THE DEFENCE OF THE FARMHOUSE

New Zealand Times, Volume LXXI, Issue 4289, 23 February 1901, Page 3 (Supplement)

THE DEFENCE OF THE FARMHOUSE

SLTEIIB uailisn DOGGEDNESS. HOW DE WET ILEX HIS GREATEST Di-i HAT. A superb story of the battle of Bothaviile, when Colonel Lo Gaillais defeated Oe Wet. causing him a loss of 25 killed, .10 wounded, tUO prisoners, and seven guns, and fell himself in the moment of victory, is forwarded by Reuter’s correspondent from Krconstad, under date November 19. Lo Gallais had been hard at work, in conjunction with other columns, tracking Do Wet. A small, preliminary skirmish took placo at the village of Bothavillo, and then, at 4.30 on tho morning of Novembci 6, Lo Gallais’s little force moved off in his indefatigable chase. BOER OUTPOST SURPRISED. The country to our front was open and undulating, and there were no kopjes to afford a hiding-place to the enemy. The sth Mounted Infantry, under Major Lean, moved rapidly forward, taking every precaution against accidents. Suddenly they came upon a small picket of tlie enemy lying fast asleep. Around them their horses, firmly kuco-halterod, were peacefully grazing.

lii a moment they wore awakened end after rubbing their eyes found themselves prisoners. The 'importance of this rapture was not lost on Major Lean, for with the command of ‘'Gallop” his little force rode straight forward towards the next rise. What they saw from it was sufficient to delight the heart of any man. The enemy’s laager lay within 3UUyds of him, and beneath him, guns, waggons and horses, all contained in a small space of a few hundred yards square, immediately despatching a messenger "with the news. Major Lean dismounted his. men and’ fired volley after volley into tho thick of them. Then arose such a panic as perhaps tho Boers had never before experienced. Steyn and De Wet fled incontinently in a Cape cart. Those burghers who had horses at hand _ leaped on their backs and galloped away, leaving everything—guns, ammunition and waggons. Only those who could not get their horses remained and fought, principally from a strong stone enclosure and a, stone wall adjoining, with the courage of despairing men. SIXTY AGAINST 200. Up to the present we only had sixty men, which was all that Loan had with him. The Boers numbered fully 200, but the unequal fight was kept up with rigour by our men. At this stage of tho fight our front was formed as follows : On iOur left front, where the Bth Mounted Infantry had taken up a. position in echelon, stood a Kaffir kraal, where lay fourteen men of tlio Oxford Light Infantry (Mounted Infantry'), under Captain Maurice, Le Gallais’s galloper-, who took command when Captain Colville was hit. In tlio centre ten men of the Oxford Light Infantry (Mounted Infantry) held a farmhouse, while twenty Buffs and Royal Irish Mounted Infantry, under Captain Engelbach. who was killed, held a piece of the wall on the right of the farmhouse.

Further to the right, twenty of tho Worccsto' Mounted Infantry, under Captain Holland, had secured and j.. .Id a bit of good ground. Later on twenty men of the Hoyal Irish, under Captain Brush, held a siu'.il.ir position on our extreme right f.'ont.

Le Gallais and Ross, hearing the firing, galloped forward to seo how things wore going. They reached the farmhouse, and, leaving their horses outside, entered the building, whence a good view of the position could be obtained. Lo Gallais perceived that about 800 Boers, who had,fled at the first volley, laid formed up, and were working round both cur Hanks'. Le Gallais thereupon ordered Major Hickie. his staff officer, to lidc back to tho heliograph, and order Major Welsh, who was in charge of !Ke baggage escort, to pack his baggage between tho two kopjes, and send every man available to the left flank. This order was promptly obeyed. The Cape cart drivers, mostly men who had lost their horses, outspanned and held the kopjes, whilo Major Welsh took the rest of the 7th Mounted Infantry up towards our left wing. At the same time the 17th and IStli companies of the Imperial yeomanry were ordered to move to the right flank. This relieved the situation somewhat, but still it was a difficult position, requiring great coolness and courage to iace it. A PERFECT CHARNEL-HOUSE. .Major Hickie rode back,to the farmhouse and was greeted by a hail of bullets, five of which hit his horse and killed it. lie, however, was luckily unhurt, and immediately entered the house. It w r as a terrible sight that met his eves.

' The gallant. Le Gallais lay mortally wounded. Ross, in another room, was stretched on the floor with his jaw and a portion of his throat shot away. Captain Williams lay dead, and Lieutenant Percy Smith, of tho Middlesex Regiment, wounded, together with four men.

Outside the house fourteen dead horses testified to the terrible nature of the Beer fire. It had become a perfect charnel-house, for it was a splendid mark for the Boers.

The front window, which overlooked the Boer position, wius-an inferno of whistling, shrieking bnllits, spattering the walls, and breaking the woodwork and glass! Ross, it appeared; had geno straight to this window to see what was the position of affairs. The door of the rocra was exactly opposite the window, and unfortunately it had been left open, so the enemy could see right through the house. *

When Ross was hit four men picked him up, and earned him out, showing up clear against the lights of the back doorway.. The enemy, although they, saw that it was only a wounded man being carried away, opened a terrible fire. But the bravo four never flinched, and continued to carry their beloved commander down the passage, when suddenly Le Gallais appeared trom another room to see what was the matter, and was immediately hit. The collet entered his left breast, traversed his body, and came out on his left side. He sank to the ground with a mpan, and was quickly put under cover. He was conscious all the time, and never seemed to think about his wound, but kept asking questions about the progress of the fight. THE WOUNDED FILLED THE . RIFLES. For five hours these gallant men forming our front, held their ground against an overwhelming fire. Man after man was shot killed, or wounded, but the others continued firing calmly and steadily. . The wounded men in many cases filled the magazines for their comrades still fighting, and handed up the full rifles to them. It wanted courage _ of a very high order to hold the position. Not only were

200 Boers firing with terrible rapidity :at short range, but> 800 were throaton- | lug to out them off. But the men, with | boil-dog tenacity, would not yield, ani never flinched. As one of the men said afterwards, ‘‘We could see their guns, and we wasn’t going to lose them.” And so the fight vent on. On our right flank tho Boers had made an attempt to get in, *he two companies ot Yeomanry, under Oapt-iin Coates and Lieutenant Bolton, faced them steadily, and drove them off in seme confusion. After that our rignt flank was never seriously threatened. On U,e left flank, however, things were othc!'vke. Hero the Boers were in greater numbers and seemed do ter mi nod to do their very utmost to cave tlm guns. A gun of U Bat-toiy was posted to shell the advancing Boers.

A FINE DEED OF DARING. And now took place one of the Guest deeds of daring of a day full of gallant action. The. Boors crept up towards the gun, and actually got to within fifty yards. 'Dio sights had been shot away, and every man of tho detachment was either killed or wounded. But taoy served the gun to tho last man. The Boers imagined that it was in their power, but there was a great disappointment in store for them. Lieutenant White and six men of the Suffolk Mounted Infantry—all of them heroes—seeing tlio situation, rushed forward and poured a withering firo on the enemy at close range, driving them belter skelter back and saving the gun. They then lay down and continued, until the arrival of reinforcements, to keep the enemy at bay. The arrival of Major Walsh with th<> 7th Zdounted Infantry and the Burma hs was most welcome.

Gradually they drove the Boers back until they gob opposite the Boer laager and were in a position to enfilade them. Quickly a pom-pom was uulimboied, and shell after shell was accurately placed along tho sides of the dam and the walls held by tho enemy. Thfc two companies of the Yeomanry also pushed forward on our right, and soon we held throe sides of a square, in the middle of which was the Boer laager. Finally the Boers wore shelled out with some difficulty.

But the victory was dearly purchased. Le Gallaise lay dead, mourned sincerely by his men. If anything can console a mother fur the loss of such a gallant son it is the lakt words he uttered feebly to Ins staff officer, Major Hickie( “If I die, tell niy mother that I died happy, as we got tho guns.”—Reuter.