SPECIAL WAR LETTER.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XXIV, Issue VI, 10 February 1900, Page 269

SPECIAL WAR LETTER.

From Our War Correspondent.

THE CAMP, RENSBERG, January 7, 1900.

5Ve have had a great time ever since Christmas, including a record hailstorm on Boxing Day, which nearly killed the horses with cold and terror. All the artillery horses broke loose nnd galloped through our lines, where we and our horses stood shivering, nnd the tents were all flooded. The ground was white for hours after. The Boers must have had a great time, as they have no canvas. Next day the Boers fell back from their position into Colesberg, and we advanced to here with very little bring. We have been fighting more or less every day since our arrival here. We came across a grave marked “Bradford, N.Z. Contingent,’ and a Boer prisoner told us he died ten days after they picked him up, and that he never recovered consciousness, as he fractured his skull when he fell from his horse, although no doubt he would have recovered from his wound. We have been under fire, especially shell, lately, but no more were hurt. We all confess to feeling very anxious between the booming of an enemy’s gun and the landing of the shell, which generally fails to burst, although they are using English ammunition captured at Tugela, but they don’t understand the time fuse. Young-, of the Heretannga, has gone to ho’spital at De Aar with a. strained back, done when his horse received a wound at Valkop. The rest are all very well —cheerful, dirty, and very thirsty, and anxious to see who are amongst the next lot we hear are coming from New Zealand. We received a lot of presents at Christmas from New Zealanders in Capetown—tobacco, pipes, tea, etc—which were very acceptable. We shift camp at 3 a.in. to-morrow. Nobody knows where we are going. The place is so full or spies that nothing is safe.

THE DAY OF BRADFORD’S DEATH.

Messrs T. Maunder, Keith Gorrie, and N. McDonald, Waikato members of the first contingent, forwarded the following vivid account of the fighting, written by the first-named, on December IS, to friends in the Waikato: — On Sunday, the ISth inst., we had some hot work close to our camp. In the evening of Saturday we. were all paraded before the Regimental Sergt.Major to see what men would be sound enough for duty on. the-morrow. Both companies were formed up into sections in close order, and, of course, all ears were open to learn what he had to say. He said the General commanding us was very pleased with our work, and was satisfied from what he had seen that we could be trusted in case of danger. On Monday, the 18th, we were in the saddle at 3 o’clock to escort a battery of artillery (ten guns), an honour not to be despised, and no doubt some of the regiments from Home considered we were not entitled to the position. We have the credit of being the General's pets. I am not romancing when I say we are always first to line up in the saddle at the first sound of alarm, thanks to our Sergt.-Major. I am, however, getting away from the point. As I have stated, we were out at 3 a.m. to cover the battery. The Boers’ guns carry 8000 yards, whereas ours only carry 4000 yards odd. The order was to take the Long Toms, as they call the Boer guns, even if we lost our whole battery; but luck was against us. We had to march about ten miles from.the camp. To cover the guns we had to form in column of division all round them, so as to hide them from the enemy. We arrived in position just as day was dawning, but could not locate their position. We were in range of a rebel farm, so we shelled it. Then No. 1 Company, under Capt. Davies, advanced on the house, dismounted and fixed bayonets. When we reached the house the enemy had cleared. I am No. 3 in our section, and Keith Gorrie N°. 4. The gallant 2nds, as we are now called, took up a position close to the house, having led our horses up. All the Waikato boys are in the 2nd Division, under Lieut. Lindsay, and a fine fellow he is. We had no sooner taken up our position when the enemy was seen approaching a line of kopjes on the right flank of the house. We were ordered to mount end take the kopje before the Boers. We cut off several of the beggars, but were too late to do any good. Our rifles spoke up and poisoned a few Boers. The Boers were too strong, numbering over 300 against our small

party. We were blocked at a high, wire fence and could not get cover. We eventually got some shelter on the left side of the kopje, when we were in full view of 230 rifles. By Jove, they did pepper us for about 20 minutes. They were only about 250 yards away. Our boys dropped a few Boers, when we were ordered to retire. Our boys could have held the kopje against the enemy until the guns came up if it had not been for the danger we were in with our horses. Altogether we had only 180 men and the guns against 2000 Boers. As soon as we retired they advanced and opened their magazines on us. We were in a tight fix, and 1 don’t want another like it. We were in three distinct lines of fire —one in front, another on our right, and the shell from the Long Tom dropping within 20 yards from us on our left. The Boer shell is inferior, although they fire straight enough, if they exploded. It is a pity we had no cover for the horses, as we had good cover for ourselves. 1 had a close call, and the Boers nearly knocked me over. I got a bullet score on the wrist, another one right - through the neck of my water bottle, and one through the sling of my rifle, quite close. \\ e had most of our horses wounded and one shot dead when we were retiring. The General complimented the officers and men upon our return. He said the twenty men on the kopje under fire were a credit to the British army. He never expected to see us return alive.

LETTER FROM A NEW ZEALANDER.

THE FARM INCIDENT.

iMr T. T. Shaw, son of Mr Shaw, of I aeroa, writing to his brother under date of Arundel, December 19, gives an interesting account of the stirring affair in which the New Zealanders took part the previous day. He says: Yesterday we escorted the Royal Horse out to a Boer farm, where there was supposed to be about 500 of the enemy. We arrived there at three in the morning, after a ride of twenty miles. The contingent was in the front to hide the guns. When within 2000 yards of the farm the order was divisions right and left; we split in two and galloped to the rear. Then the cannons commenced as pretty a piece of work as you would wish to see. The ten guns kept shelling for haf an hour, then fire ceased. Our men galloped up, amout 40 strong, to take the farm. We had to cross a dam full of water, hemmed in on one side by a wire fence, on the other a stone wall. We arrived at the farm safe, seeing no sign of the enemy after ssearching everywhere. The table was laid for breakfast by the Boers. When the shells came they had to clear out and leave it. Lucky for them, as a shell exploded and blew the side out of the house, tearing the furniture to pieces. After having a good look around we retired to the guns, when General French galloped up and asked us to hold the place for a while. When we got back we were met by a fusilade by the Boers. Our fighting is done on foot, so we dismounted, passed our horses over to No. 3 of section (a section consists of 4 men, No. 3 always holds the horses), and taking cover returned the fire, which was kept up for an hour. The Boers numbered about 250, armed with magazine rifles and accompanied by their “long Tom,” a gun that throws a shell of 591bs 10,000 yards. They made it so hot for us that the General gave the order for us to retire. Up to this no one had been hit. As soon as we were mounted and got clear of the dam poor old Bradford received a ball in the hip, fell backwards off his horse, and was left for dead. One of the horses was shot dead under his rider, but a sergeant stopped and took him up behind him. He afterwards caught Bradford’s horse and rode out of danger. Strange to say all who were in the thickest of it were Auckland boys. The General came and complimented us, saying the way we fought was a credit to the British army. The ambulance waggon went out in the afternoon, accompanied by four Paeroa boys, to get Bradford’s body, They were met by a Boer leader, who told them he was not dead, but had a bullet through the thigh. The Boer doctor dressed his wound and sent him on to their second camp, where he will be kept prisoner until he is either released or exchanged.

We are now to have three days’ holiday to rest our horses. We have been riding on an average 50 to 75 miles a day. The day of the fight I left my own horse at camp, and was given a fiery black mare, so that I could act as right flanking scout, which is a dangerous position. We seem to live

under a lucky star to escape such a storm of bullets. The worst of the lot is the shells from “Long Tom.” You can see a puff of smoke, then hear a screeching sound, then the roar of the gun, and lastly you wait to see who the poor devil is to go under. The suspense is trying. A black who escaped from Colesberg says there is 25 tons of dynamite under a bridge at the entrance to the town, ready to blow it up at the approach of the British. We have only one thing to complain of, and that is the tucker. Our ration for a day is a pound of tinned beef and a pound of bread or biscuit; lately we have had mutton. The New Zealanders commandeered 1000 sheep and 50 head of cattle.