The Dorset County Express and Agricultural Gazette.
Dorchester, Dorset, England, 1884-03-11 00:00:00

TIIN CAVALRY IN ACTION.

The corresponclont of tie Tisets says :—When 'he
Infantry drone-A in square from "'art Baker at eight
&oink, Major G .mge, with • squadron of the 10th
reu ilesp•Miel to scout on the front and left
(root. About twelve o'clock, when the square was seen
to be elv toeing and to I. evidently preparing fora ruih,
General Stuart @twig his farm tumid the infantry right,
and give tbe order to gallop. Numbers of tho en-rnv
were v sib!. in the plain beyond tie ridge. The canary
hol t,o n marching in three ilon.il Wood, with tbe
IOIn Rossi's, 'wining the lust; inol Burrow.
tie 19th Ilits•ars. tha second onl Li-0.-C 4nnel
Webater, with tie English horses f the 10th, 1110 in name
tar, the turd. Tale formation was now maintained when
the cavalry began to gallop. Tee enemy was von st tie
eight of there splitting off into two large bodi-s, one to the
right, the other to the left It was • gillop of three good
miles before any of the minutiae spearmen were caught.
The first was a women, who, hea sex unrecognisable,
miracuUtiely escamd unhurt through the Brit lino, and.
b ing discerned anti spa -eol l.y the sec ,nil, displayed her
savage gratitude by firing • musket after the men who
saved her.
Tin enemy were now in very thin numbers in front,
and a halt was amulet when news cane ;bat Colonel
Web-to, who, with tie third line, had not followed timely
bat had turned to the tight, was being hmvily attacked.
"Tnoops, left shoot," was sounded imuiedieteir, and
Colonel arrow's line, which had been the second, now
became the grit in tie returning formation. Tee enemy
soon appeared in greet form, some mounted, some on foot,
all spearenen. The men on foot ware lying among the
toft.l hill cks and little mounds of whlch the whole
pain wee M id• up, and they thus, when charged, were
enabled to moire meet/ Coat ii,d nit •ppear to be offered
by • Main that from a Mumma piesented an aspect of
almost exact evenness. Ilion came the order to charm :
this was about Ilia On went C doml Barrow, his squad-
rons as regular ae it on parade; but he had • dangerous
enemy to meet. Neither horseman nor footmen showed
toe faintest mediae of feu or indecialon. Tinsman on foot
lay in shelter of the hillock. sad moueds of sant which,
though small to the eye, were effective, and, Haim as the
horses leaped over them Of swerved slide, drove home
tbeir heavy spears, throwing them where thee were unable
to reach their foe by hand. The spears are Zulu assegais
in form, except that, being winghtal with • roll if iron
at the extreme end of this shalt, they have a greater
1110OlelllOril and piercing power.
Some 10 horsemen rote with full force and boldly against
the whole a .vencing squadron. not • sign of trepida-
tion anywhere among thein. Three cum safety straight
through, and, midi.= eyed either by tbe shock they had
survived or the uqial peril imminent from the meond line
sweeping down upon teem, wheeled their horses, which
they were riling barebacked, with wond rful rapidity,
end actually heeltatod net to hunt in full pursuit um
squadrons whose impute, power the, had se nerrowil
escaped. I do not think they 'arrived t boast of their
prowess, but the Mask Mouse • tough one and obscure
in seam of it, details. Colonel Barrow was struck by a
thrown spear that pierced hie arm and side, entering, It Is
feared, the lung. Toga the first Uwe missing It. loader
and not fully redoing the position, ewe.: straight on
where It. last leader no doubt would have wheeled it tithe
right Geseral Bisset, who was riding somewhat in
advance of the left ft ask of the &mond line, noting at ones
lbw Saw. drove seers into his hone, and with hie eta
galloped hard to brow rouse the erring squedrons. It
was • race between this small band, the general and staff,
and • aloud of the foe rushing from to, right The
general won, sod caught up his first line ; but in this con.
aim, and undeg the unfaltering ewasp of the 10th Homers
U they followed, wheeling with admirable precision to
the lelt, the meet mournful eternalise. of the day rams
fits woolerfte how he scull Egypt!a, horses, pinios in
fact, did the work. They ha I had no water that day, water
being served out only to the MOM hone, of the 19M. No
finer dispiay of cavalry itei ion agalaet such • foe could be
desiret Tas hen 111 ig of the force was perfect through all
ra lie, with the o is email es eptio I where an unevoidaMe
calamity, the die hilt. 2 of Colonel Barrow, created a moment-
ary nuamieu silo° The C sell and capacity of Colonel
Wood n his management of the lOtb wm a fit lug compliment
to the ability of tile 'The main fill/ff of Me
caralry action wee to dim erse and cut in two the enemy and
form them from their lb. of ret eat, ..d to give support to
the ialentry attack. The gr inn-1, with it. mime everywhere
'scooped by knolls sod stunts! mash, th,ugh not sell.iently
rugged to Interfere with the rapid and even m memento of
cavalry, was very famaxible to the safety of such a f ie. The
enemy seen an i eiic metered by the cavalry is animated at
from 10,000 to 12,000.
Of thi general's tier orderlies one wan killed and two wara
wottedei, but tom we. little Major Slate, 10th Hooters. as
Sea • ',idler and of se fine • family of soldiers as aver
breathed, le I m Melly wounded. HMI h isle hal tines been
toqpd ha mating to tie bone, lie patent rider el is beside li,
pares h avec spear eructs. U Inman Pruby o 9th
neopi Cavinry, atm :hal to the 1010, is miming, and meet,
there leer ry few, be mooted d Here too, perished
Lieut. ant resume, 19th timme. Ti. enemy wire now in
full light to the left, sod since • pursuit of them would have
brought the pursuers soros, al in! salty Ale, the EOM of the
leading line were dismounted to um their carbines. Jun then
comeal mimater, we° hail been charging Independently at a
rsappearel. From it o'clock to two the cavalry
had baen riding backwards awl 'emeriti' through the enemy,
at • gallop for the greeter part of the time.
Zven the wounded f,,ei light to the Inet ettremity. One of
them nulled from a heap of deal whore be had Inn for some
hours, leaped on the back of a sergeant of the Black Watch,
and made a furious attempt to an his throat, gashing It
meanly. Lieutenant Probyn's body has been found. The
cavalry. in its advance from Fort Baker, rode for more than
an hour at • walk through the belie., ipcionc.u,bly ,hick, of
the slain a .11mors1 Baker's twos& almost every corpse
Ivy laos gucqouds, the nileemble fugitive" having been
evidently struck down in the beck without an "Mart to
resist Colonel Webster, at the time that be was segarsted
Iran the rest of the cayelry, wee Oppose I at one Ulna to •
force including two hundred mounted men.