FAMOUS ONE-MAN VICTORIES.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XXIV, Issue XV, 14 April 1900, Page 707

FAMOUS ONE-MAN VICTORIES.

The splendid stand made by a body of colonial scouts in a donga six miles north of Dordrecht, Cape Colony, a few days ago, against a relatively enormous Boer force, reminds us of one or two instances in which a solitary man has kept at bay an enemy whose numbers have run into hundreds.

It will be remembered that the scouts above referred to numbered only forty all told, and that they" were cut off by the Boers because of their determination not to abandon a wounded officer with whom they could not have made good their escape. Throughout the night they were again and again assailed by a force of some 800 Boers, each of whose attacks they succeeded in beating off until a rescue party arrived and conducted the gallant little band back to camp on the following morning. But the perhaps unrivalled feat of a volunteer, named Hall, in our war with the Boers, in 1881, was a still finer fight against far greater odds. The scene of this was at Standerton, where the brave volunteer, seeing that a number of his comrades were in imminent risk of being cut off by a force of 300 Boers, nobly sacrificed his life to apprise them of their danger and afford them an opportunity of escape. Without a moment’s consideration for his own safety, he coolly commenced to engage the party of 300 Boers, firing upon them again and again, thus drawing their fire upon himself while his comrades made good their escape. But for this superb act of heroism they would certainly have all been either captured or shot, the latter being the fate of their lionhearted preserver. In the course of the operations arising out of the Indian Mutiny there was more than one instance of a similar kind. A British soldier who was surprised by a party of rebels, to the number of nearly 200, took up his stand behind the ruins of a wall and blazed away at the enemy until they turned tail and fled at the approach of a mere handful of our cavalry. They left ten dead and wounded on the field, exclusive of three whom the Britisher brought down as the rebels retreated.

A no less brilliant one-man victory was that of the British sergeant who, by his splendid marksmanship, defeated all attempts of the mutineers to place in position a gun which would have commanded the interior fortifications of one of the besieged towns and thus brought about its downfall. The enemy made repeated efforts to fix this gun on the top of a neighbouring building, but as soon as any rebel showed himself on the spot he was carefully picked off by the ever watchful marksman. This went on for a long time, until the attempt was finally abandoned, much to the relief of the besieged, who were thus saved by the prowess of one of their number from annihilation or surrender. A really extraordinary one-man victory was once brought off in Tasmania after a whole army had ignominiously failed. Many years ago the survivors of the aboriginals of the island were a constant menace to the settlers, upon whom they often suddenly descended and subjected to the most barbarous outrages. This prompted the then Governor of the colony. Sir George Arthur, to take measures for the capture of the whole nation. By extending a line of men right across the north end of the island, and then inarching them to the south, he hoped to be able to force all the natives into a corner, where they might ultimately be surrounded and captured. The 'most elaborate preparations were made, and enormous expense incurred to insure the success of the expedition. Not only was every free man in the colony called out, but all the convicts were compelled to lend their aid; and after a month's weary inarching over mountain tops, through almost impassable forests, and across rivers and deep gullies, the extended line of heroes closed in upon the enemy. But to their amazement and disgust they

■then discovered that they had only captured one poor black, the cunning of the savage having fairly outwitted the skill of civilized man. But what the combined forces of the colony were unable to perform was accomplished by a single man, who, acquainted with the language, manners, and customs of the natives, came forward anil offered to capture, without assistance, each and every aboriginal remaining in the island. As might be supposed, the Government was most anxious to retrieve their position, and eagerly accepted the offer. The brave volunteer had not long departed on his mission when he returned with a long string of prisoners who were safely lodged in gaol. He then immediately set off upon another expedition, which was repeated again and again, the number of prisoners increasing with each, until not a single aboriginal was at large in Tasmania. Not only so. but he accomplished this unique victory, so far as could be ascertained, without the shedding of a drop of his own or his captives' blood!

Coming back to the Boers, the valiant stand made by Capt. Auehinleek at Rastenberg, in 18(81, is well worthy of mention, though* he eyas accompanied by a force of some seventy riflemen. S’- rounded by many hundreds of Boers, he fought them day and night for weeks and weeks, finally dispersing them by carrying their trenches in the night, nt the point of the bayonet, with a force of ten or a dozen men.

After three or four of such sallies, in each of which the captain sustained serious injuries, the enemy had had enough of cold steel and kept at a respectful distance from a foeman so resourceful and daring as they knew from bitter experience Captain Auchinleck to be. May Great and Greater Britain always be served by such noble, valiant sons.