THE SOUTH AFRICAN WAR

New Zealand Mail, 22 January 1902, Page 65

THE SOUTH AFRICAN WAR

BRAKSNLAAGTE FIGHT. ; COLONEL BENSON’S DEATH. Ained account of the disasT ‘ lC ßnken!aagte fight is from the pen trcusßraJ - O-ilvv, of Berwick, «' W .fani w. oiivj., Y,., - niihv was ft member of the First Vic • ° rVuitingent, aacl cams back to Vitoria but subsequently returned to gnuth Africa- where he joined the L. -iron of Mounted Rifles. The *-C-i-vrto engagement was very seriKr<!B t!,e British having lost 23‘J in killed ."3 ; ti,o 80,,, 375. The Boers captured two British guns, young Ogiley’s account of the fighting nr( ] pf the subsequent scenes of suffering is'very graphic and affecting. He. writes: —■ . >T n Brugspruit, aov. G. “Oil the morning of October 30, about C we were on the move for the railway fia o ns quickly ns possible, for *1 goors were getting stronger and longer. We had a large convoy to tC rt v]lick when m motion extends for about four miles, and, as the modem •flo carries about 2.e00 yards, the ad-vance-guard is some 3.000 yards in front, the rear-guard a similar distance behind, with the "flankers out the same on each side. The rest of the troops, with the •twins, are in the centre round the conv°y.

“Soon after starting we saw the Boers watching us from the hills in tne distance out of range of cur guns. No sooner had we fairly left our old camp-ing-ground than the Boers rode down ami occupied it. V\ 7 e were supports to the rear-guard, and could see them quite plainly. Our big guns started shelling them; they replied by firing on our right flank.* The convoy came to a halt. The Boers would first attack one part of our flankers, then the advance-guard, then another part of the flankers, as if they were endeavouring to find a weak f .pot. We wore ordered to the left rear 2ml;, and lying on the ridge saw a body of about sfio Boers ride up through a gap in the hills. Our guns dropped some shells into them as they passed. It was the first time we had seen the Boers so close and in such numbers. The convoy started on again, leaving us by ourselves. Not a very comfortable position, for had they attacked ns we must have had a. very bad time of it. However, they did not. and we got through the rear-guard, feeling more comfortable. It was now pouring, the rain coming down in torrents. Not a Boer was to bo seen- It rained steadily for some four hours. We could see no great distance in any direction. The rain suddenly cleared off. and it became quite fine, beautifully calm, and quiet.

“It was the calm before tile storm, and the last hours on earth for many of our poor fellows. Whilst it had been raining the Boers had been gathering their forces around us for a desperate attempt, to capture the convoy. Not a hundred or so. but fully two or three thousand. We had to be scattered, and had a large extent of ground to cover. We had a company of mounted infantry, about 100 infantry—ourselves (some fid menl—two guns, and a pom-pom to defend the rear of the convoy. “Our squadron numbered Go men and officers when wo started that morning. We were ordered to guard the guns and protect them from a sudden rush. How we carried out our orders may bo gauged by the fact that when the gnus were

captured out of fid men and officers 40 lay dead or dying round . them ; eight were taken prisoners.

“But I am anticipating somewhat. The Boers had commenced sniping at our rear-guard; we and the guns were sc-iiu back vo stop them. Reaching a ridge, about half a mile hack, we saw them galloping about, in all directions, we dismounted, and opened fire, the guns meanwhile being got in position to shell them, when suddenly, like bees out of a hive, they swarmed over the next ridge, and came at full gallop towards us. Be poured our fire into them and the guns dropped shells amongst them. Vou could see them dropping off their horses as our -hells and bullets did their deadly work: they got half-way up the slope, but could not face the'fire • retired, and shortly after tried again; once more our fire beat them hack,' and .? on during a couple of hours; then they loft us and galloped hack to attack the right flank.

Meanwhile Botha, with about 1,000 men reinforced the Boers at the rear and they attacked our rear-guard. Our guns were retired to the next ridge, “u could hardly call them ridges; gene uses would more adequately de- ; cnbo »o cover at all, only the ra.-sy slopes. We had barely time to mount lop back before ’the Boors tl„>v oltl Position, sniping f or all ”Z, , 'C;T' h '. °" r e "", s "W th" f ar , " as 110 Rood; they were ordered n" y i for US ‘ Gu,l « again we had !n retlre f ,° t,ie ~ext ridge and hot tli.l ' “ f MtrC!lt - ft refir<- on t i. b ab we g°f word to up f rom 10 alul when we got the enemv-s f.Jj pos,tlon to so, ful. y s lire became something awl "Our horses were mad with the noise

of the firing; many were shot, mine among them, with several of the horseholders. I got up behind another fellow ; as I did so the stock of my rifle was shattered by a bullet, another grazed my left wrist; but we got clear, the good old horse going far all it was worth. A sergeant-major tried to recover a rifle for me. but was captured. “No sooner liad we got into comparative safety when the order was given, ‘L Company save the guns.’ We dismounted, and lay round the guns. By this time the- Boers were some two hundred yards from us, and still coming on | —tlie main body of infantry were retired i on the convoy. While our small bodies j of men were left to cope with the reinforcements brought up by Botha, the j retirement of the infantry left our right i flank exposed : they poured volleys into • us from this quarter while the Boers in front charged the guns. It only took a few minutes, sooner than one could tell it. and all was over. i “Colo ml Benson fell mortally wound- [ cd, being shot through the stomach. ! Our commander, Major Murray, fell, ! and the Boers shot him as lie lay help- j less, wounded. Captain Inglis, our cap- ■ tain, was shot in the head with an ex- [ plosive bullet; his brains were scattered - all over the place. Lieutenant Wood- | man was mortally shot in the stomach. | Altogether, some 40 men fell in a few j mom eras round the gnus. | “The gunners brought up a team of j horses to drag the guns away, hut as I soon as they reached them they all i fell together, just as if they had been 1 mown down with a scythe. Everyone J of them lay dead or dying—one con- j fused mass of men and horses. :

“We fought for dear life over their dead bodies. If I saw little during my first period of service in South Africa, 1 saw more than I bargained for on that day; the groans and cries of the dying, the shrieks of the wounded men find horses, the pitiful entreaties for water; the writhing, twisting, and doublingup into all manners of strange contortions of those around us were sounds and sights I will remember till my dying day. One poor fellow, shot through the chest, lay alongside of me, and the sound of the blood gurgling out at each respiration haunts me still-

“Our ammunition gave out. They tried to send us some by mule-carts, but the mules were snot; two runners tried to bring us some, they also were shot.Then tne Boers came charging down on us, yelling, hurrahing, and stopping to deliberately shoot our wounded meiiq a lot of our slightly wounded being finished off. As we could practically offer no resistance we got up and ran for all we were worth ; all cur bosses were shot, so run we must, or be taken prisoners. The Boers were so taken un with the capture of the guns that they overlooked our small remnant running away. When it got dark we retired into trenches, and the Boers stopped firing. “You have seen pictures of ‘After Waterloo Round the Farm House.’ There was no exaggeration of the horrors of war in them. We were retired to a farmhouse, and the sight was something beyond description—men covered with blood and dust, torn clothes, no boots; some without hats or coats,

wounded and dying horses, all gathered "together in one huddled-up mass; the men asking for news of their mates, the wounded beseeching us for water; the poor horses looking mutely at us, as if asking for relief, which we gave them in the shape of a bullet—poor brutes, they did their work well. “When we retired to the trenches the firing ceased, and as if by common consent, the ground between the two forces became neutral. British and Boer, under the white flag, went out to seek for the dead and give aid to the wounded. The Boers said they would have the convoy during the night, so every man had to stand to arms in . the trendies during the whole night. ; make matters worse the rain came down in torrents; the trenches became half full of water. My coat had been lost when my horse was shot, so I had no coat, and got wet through, remaining so all night. Strange to say I suffered no ill effects. “But if our sufferings were bad, wiiat must have been the agonies of those poor fellows lying out on the ridge and slope in front of us—nearly 000 dead and wounded British and Boer lay out that night. We could see the lanterns of the ambulances flitting back and fori ward like fireflies as they searched for the wounded. All night long wounded men kept crawling through the lines, covered with blood and dirt, the ma- ! jority with hardly any clothes on, for . I am sorry to stay, the Boers stripped the wounded as well as the dead, leav- ; ing some of them -with nothing but : shirt and socks on. Many died from , tho exposure; many more lived in agony till tho morning, and died as soon as they were found. . The Boers stripped the dead stark naked, and tho most horrible sight of all was the dead . bodies glistening in the morning sun. I ‘‘The Boers have a great hatred for I tlie colonials, and it is not safe to say | you are one if you chance to be cap- | tured. Shoiild tlie better class of Boer 1 capture you there is not much to fear; but tlie lower class Boer and the foreigners don’t hesitate a moment to strip

you of everything, and if you chance to bo wounded, finish you off. I am all right myself, but it is hard to realise that so many of our chums have fought ; their last fight. Nearly every fellow in the camp has lost a friend, and I think

A happy idea for a trade mark is the word “Lemco,” coined from the initials of Liebig’s Extract of Meat Co. Many inferior meat extracts seek to trade on the Liebig Company’s 3G years’ reputation and they accordingly ask the public to order their extract under the name ‘ Lemco - ’ in order to ensure obtaining the genuine article. 1

you will be able to realise something of what we have gone through.”