The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1879-02-15 00:00:00

THE ZULU WAR.

TERRIBLE DEFEAT OF THE BRITISH

TROOPS.

The following telegram (Renter's) was published in the
morning papers of fuesday :
CAPE TOWN, Jan. 27 (via St. Vincent).
On the 21st inst. a British column, consisting
of a portion of the 24th Regiment, and 600 natives
with one battery, was defeated with terrible loss
by an overwhelming force of Zaino, who num-
bered 20,000. A valuable convoy of supplies, con-
sisting of 102 waggons drawn by 1,000 oxen, two guns,
400 shot and shell, 1,000 rifles, -250,000 rounds of
ammunition. and 60,0031 b. of commissaviat stores,
and the colours of the 24th Regiment fell into the
hands of the enemy. The engagement occurred about
ten miles beyond Rorkes drift on the Tugela River.
The number of Zulus killed and wounded is esti-
mated to have been 5,000, while our forte was com-
pletely annihilated.
The extent of the British loss has caused the utmost
consternation in the Colony. The High Commis-
sioner has sent a despatch by steamer to Mauritius
asking for reinforcements, and has also sentan appeal
for additional troops to England by this mail.
The complete nominal roll of killed and wounded has
not yet been received, but the following British officers
have fallen :—ln the Ist Battalion of the 2ith Regi-
ment, Major Pulleine,Maj or White, Captains Degacher,
Wardell, Mostyn, and Younghusband, Lieutenants
Cavaye, Hodson, Atkinson' Daly, Anstey, Dyson,
Porteous and Melville. In the 2nd Battalion
were killed Lieutenants Pope, Austen, Dyer, and
Griffiths, and Quartermaster Bloomfield. Captains
Smith and Russell, of the Royal Artillery, and
Colonel Darnford, Captain Shepstone, Lieutenant
M.Donnell, Surgeon-Major Shepherd. Lieutenants
Coghill, A.D.C., Roberts, and Durnford, of the
Engineers, also fell.
Twenty-one other British officers commanding the
native levies were also killed.
Several subsequent attacks by Caffres have been
repulsed, and confidence is now reviving slightly.
Natal is, however, in great danger, and disturbances
are feared in Pondoland.
LATER.

The latest news reports that 500 men and 30 officers
were killed in the disastrous engagement with the
Zulus.
Lord Chelmsford has been forced to retire in con-
sequence of the defeat.
Reinforcements to the extent of six regiments of
infantry and a brigade of cavalry have been asked for
by this mail, which has departed a day earlier on
account of the urgency of the case.
The position of Natal is serious.

The evening papers of Tuesday published the following
Official Despatch, which had been sent from the War
Office :

( From Lorl Chelmsford to Secretary of State for War.)
ST. VINCENT, February 10, 6 40 p.m.

I regret to have to report a very disastrous engage-
merit, which took place on the 22nd January between
the Zulus and a portion of No. 3 Column, left to guard
the camp about ten miles in front of Rorke's Drift.
The Zulus came down in overwhelming numbers, and,
in spite of the gallant resistance made by five companies
of the 1-24th and one company of the 2 24th, two guns,
two rocket tubes, 104 mounted men and about 800
natives, they overwhelmed them. The camp, con-
taining all the surplus ammunition and transport of
No. 3 Column, was taken, and but few of its defenders
escaped. Our loss, I fear, must be set down at 30
officers and about 500 non, commissioned officers, rank
and file, of Imperial troops and 70 non-commissioned
officers, rank and file, of colonial troops.
Court of enquiry ordered to assemble to collect evi-
dence regarding this unfortunate affair, and will be
forwarded to you as soon as received.
Full particulars' as far as can be obtained, have
been sent in my despatch, which will reach you by
next mail.
It would seem that The troops were enticed away
from their camp, as the action took place about one
mile and a quarter outside it.
The remainder of Colonel Glyn's column re-occupied
the camp after dark the same night, having been ,a ith
me twelve miles away all day. The following morning,
the 23rd, we arrived at Rorke's Drift post, which for
twelve hours had been attacked by 3,000 to 4 000
Zulus. The defence, by some 80 men of the 24th
under Bromehead and a few others, most gallant.
Lieutenant Chard, R.E., senior officer. 370 bodies
lay close around the post. Compute Zulu loss at 1,000
here alone. At the camp where the disaster occurred
the loss of the enemy is computed to be over 2,000.
Colonel Pearson, No. t Column, has been attacked,
but repulsed the Zulurrwith success.
List of killed and missing :
Royal Engineers—Colonel Darnford, Lieutenant
Macdonald.
Royal Artillery—Captain Russell, Captain Stuart
Smith.
Ist Battalion, 24th egiment—Colonel Pulleine,
Major White, Captains Degacher, Wardell, Mestyn,
and Younghusband ; Lieuts. Hudson, Ca.vaye, Atkin-
son, Daly, Anstey, Dyson, Porteous, Mel-sill, Coghill;
Quartermaster Pullen. 2nd Battalion—Lieuts. Pope,
Austin, Dyer, Griffith ; Quartermaster Bloomfield ;
Surgeon-Major Shepherd.

fFrom Wednesday's Times.)
"The most profound sensation was caused in the garrison
at Chatham on receipt of the news of the disaster to the
British troops at the Cape The 2nd Battalion of the 24th
Regiment was stationed at Chatham a long time imme-
diately preceding its departure to the Cape ; consequently,
all the officers and men were well-known in military circles.
Quite a gloom has been cast over the whole garrison by the
event. Colonel Durnford, RE., one of the officers killed,
was brother to Major Durnford, the present instructor in
field fortifications at the School of Military Engineering,
Chatham. An entertainment announced to be held at the
Royal Engineers' Theatre on Tuesday evening has been in-
definitely postponed in consequence of the sad affair.
"Inamediately on the news of the defeat beteg communi-
cated to the Premier he at once, under hie own hand, issued
summonses for a Cabinet Council in the afternoon, at two
o'clock. In the meanwhile the Secretary for the Colonies,
Sir Michael Hicks-Beach, had Lord Chelmsford's message
communicated to him, and by ten o'clock in the morning
he and the Prime 'Minister were in conference. Soon
afterwards Sir Michael paid a viait to his depart-
ment, sod then went to the War Office, There he
met the Duke of Cambridge, Commandar•in-Chief of the
Forces, and Colon4l Stanley, Secretary of State for War,
and they were Closeted tc..golher for over an hour. While
Sir Michael Hicks-Beach returtaa.d to Downing street to
.aonsult the chief, the Secretary for War sent a communi-
cation to the Transport Department of the iediralty with
the view et asgertaining what transports could be peaeed at
his disposal for tlia conveyance of troops. Rear-Admiral
Sir William Mends, Director of Transports, at once issued
invitations to the owners of vtasele trading to the Cape to
meet him with a view to come to an arrangement, and the
consultation with them lasted for some time.
"The news of the disaster in Zululand was brpuiht to St. ,
Vincent on Monday night by the Donald Currie maitsteamer
Dunrobin Castle, which had been specially despatcaed from
Cape Town one day in advance of her proper tuns on the
urgent demand of the authorities there, with the request
that she should call at St. Vincent instead of Madeira. It
the ordinary course the Dunrobin Castle would have reached
Madeira on Friday or Saturday next, but by calling at St.
Vincent the Government have been pat in possession of her
news four dayt - earlier and in .order that the best advan-
tage may be taken of this early intelligence, the Secretary
for War has accepted Mr. Donald Curries offer to make
the outward-bound steamer, Conway Castle, which left
Dartmouth last ;Friday, call at Bt. Vincerit en Saturday
' next. The steamer was to reach Aladeria last night, and
there te!egrams were awattlxig be'.
'lron: several parts of the country, espec!ally from the
military districts, reports reach us of the feelings of the
community on receipt of the news of raverse. At AMerst_ct
the intelligeWe,'On g yucareidvisedotanherete,
ltnegarthaenapf6toldßlthe
impression. • The UM

Commander-in Chief at Aldershot, indicating certain officers
who meat hold themselves in readiness to embark for foreign
service. At Portsmouth the excitiment was intense, par.
ticularly as it is confidently stated by military authorities
that there is not a single regiment that can be got away for
this special service in les's than a fortnight.
"It is understood that the Government have again been
urge-4 to carry out the suggestions made by Mr. Donald
Currie, C M.G., since 1875, for laying a telegraphic cable
Is) Cape Town, and discussed in his lecture to the members of
the Royal United Service Institution on maritime warfare.
[he Government have not hitherto acted upon this sug-
gestion, but it is understood that there has been before
them a proposal for a line through the centre of Africa,
and then by the East Coast of Africa, in addition to the
route proposed. by Mr. Donald Currie, who was for con-
tinuing the cable which is connected with St Vincent, and
which he showed should connect with the Gold Cleat, St.
Helena, and Ascension, as our naval stations in the South
Atlantic, in order to secure an alternative route in the
event of war cutting of communications by the Red Sea.
The Government were pressed to let a military and &vat
commission deciere which route would be of most importance
to the country to the Cape Colony. Natal and Mauritius
have already offered to subsidize the line if the Home Go-
vernment would undertake in some way to establish the same.
It was decided yesterday afternoon that reinforcements, in
consequence of the urgency of Lord Chelmsford's tele-
gram, should be despatched and the Government showed
their appreciation of the state of affairs by granting to his
Lordship a larger number of additional troops than he had
asked for. It was decided to send two Regiments of Cavalry,
six battalions of Infantry, two batteries of Artillery, and one
company of Royal Engineers. In order that there may be
no breakdown in the Commissariat arrangement, the Army
Service Corps already in the field is to be strengthened by
three Companies of the Army Service Corps, and in addition
a company of the Army Hospital Corps is to be despatched.
Acting on this decision the War Office immediately
gave notice to the following regiments to hold them-
selves in readiness to embark for foreign service :
The Ist (King's) Dragoon Guards, Colonel Alexander
commanding, now stationed at Aldershot; the 17th
Lancers, commanded by Colonel Thomas Gomme, now doing
duty at Hounsrow ; M Battery, 611 Brigade, Royal Artillery,
now at Aldershot; the 30th Company of Royal Engineers,
now stationed at Chatham: the 2nd Battalion 21st Foot,
Colonel Collingwood commanding, now at the Curragh ;
the lath Foot, commanded by Colonel Mansfeld Clarke
now at the Curragh ; the 58th Foot, now at Dover, com-
manded by Colonel Whitehead; the 3rd Battalion 60th
Rifles, commanded by Colonel Leigh Pemberton, now at
Colchester; the 91st Foot, now stationed at Dublin, and
commanded isy Colonel Kirk; the 94th Foot, now at
Aldershot, under the command of Colonel Malthurst. As-
suming that each regiment is filled up to its active
strength from depots and volunteers, they will constitute an
infantry field force of close upon 5,000 men, There will also
be about 800 sabres and six guns.
The Government have telegraphed instructions to the
Viceroy of India for the immediate despatch of reinforce-
ments to Natal. Before, however, assistance can arrive from
India, which cannot be in less than ten or eleven days time,
Lord Chelmsford will be reinforced from Mauritius, where a
battery of artillery is usually stationed, to convey which
Rear-Admiral Sullivan, C. 8., C.M.G., has despatched his
flagship the Active. She will be peculiarly capable for
carrying out this duty, plenty of room existing on board
owing to the Admiral having landed the larger proportion of
his crew to form part of a naval brigade."

We (Wednesday's Times) understand that it was
decided at a meeting of the Cabinet held yesterday
afternoon to send reinforcements to the Cape to the
extent of six battalions of Infantry, two regiments of
Cavalry, two batteries of Artillery, one company of
Engineers, three companies of the Army Service Corps,
and one company of the Army Hospital Corps. The
regiments are—lst (King's) Dragoon Guards, 17th
Lancers, M Battery, 6th Brigade, R.A., N Battery
6th Brigade, BA., 30th C mpany Royal. Engineers,
21st Foot (2nd Battalion), 58th Foot, 60th Fool (3rd
Battalion), 91st Foot, 94th Foot, 57th Foot.

A Correspondent writes to The Times:—" The utmost
regret is expressed by the St. John Ambulance Association
classes at the reported loss, in the recent disastrous
iaction with the Zulus, of Sargeon-Major P. Shepherd,
the examiner detailed last year by the War Office to the
Order of St. John. Dr. Shepherd ,had greatiy endeared
himself to the classes by his kind and genial manner,
and was especially popular among the Metropolitan Police,
who presented him with a testimonial In token of their
esteem and regard. His last act before leaving England
on active service was to present the Order of St. John' of
which he was an honorary associate, with the copyright of
an ably written little handbook, compiled by him for the
express use of the ambulance classes, many thousand copies
of which are in circulation. The ambulance materiel sent
out by the Order in his charge has probably fallen into the
hands of the enemy."

The Times of Wednesday gave the following leader
on the sad disaster :
"The disaster to the British forces in Zululand has been
confirmed with melancholy exactitude, of detail by Lord
Chelmsford's despatch to the Secretary for War. In some
particulars the defeat appears to be even more serious than
there was at first reason to 'suppose. The column which
has suffered the loss of nearly half its fighting strength of
Europeans in the calamitous engagement of the 22nd ult, is
that to which the head-quarters of the General Commanding-
in-Chief were attached, and the immediate effect of the
blow has been that Lord Chelmsford with the main
body of his forces has been compelled to retire
behind the river Tugela. It can hardly be doubted
that Colonel Pearson's column, which was operating
along the coast, and which, it was inaccurately assumed,
would have had to bear the brunt of the fighting, as well as
Colonel Wood's column which was moving upon the aide
of the Transvaal, will also have to retreat to a "position of
safety. It is important that no unnecessary panic should
be aroused, though we should not attempt to extenuate the
real perils of the situation. Lord Chelmsford, notwith-
standing the losses he has suffered, retires with a body of
more than 3,000 men under the direct command of Colonel
Glyn, and it, as seems certain from the list of the miss-
ing, Corciiiel Glyn's column had been joined by Colonel
Durnford's, the numbers must be taken as nearly double. It
is true that out of these 6,100 men only a small proportion
are Europeans, and it is not the least lamentable pars of the
recent disaster that it fell most severely on the Imperial
troops, who could be ill-spared. Nevertheless, Cetywayo
will hardly venture to attack a British force of such
strength when concentrated for defeuees and if .Colonel
Pearson also withdraws into the territory of Natal, the
colonists may, on one condition await without disquietude the
arrival of the reinforcemeots which the Cabinet yesterday de-
termined to send instantly to the seat of war. Six battailons
of English infantry, with a corresponding force of
cavalry, artillery, and engineers, have received orders to
leave England at once, and other troops, on their way to
India, will probably be intercepted. These, numbering in
all, perhaps, some 7,000 or 8,000 men, would be more than
sufficient to repair the losses of the 22nd ult., if they could
be immediately placed at the disposal of Lord Chelmsford.
Unluckily, as we have had occasion to point out more than
once of late, we have no direct telegraphic communication
with any of the South African colonies, and already nearly
three weeks have elspsed since the check which compelled
the British commander to retreat before his barbarian
enemy. The troops now ordered to the Cape cannot be, we
suppose, brought into the field against the Zulus for
at least another month. In the meantime the colony
lies exposed not only to the inroads of the exult-
ing Zulus—which, after all, may probably be repelled
without any extraordinary efforts,—but to the graver
dangers of an insurrection among the natives who have
hitherto been loyal and peaceful subjects of the Natal Go-
vernment. Possibly the shock of the British defeat may
be felt even in the Cape Colony, and may rouse the colonial
population from their selfish and short-sighted apathy. If
the Connaught Rangers had not been occupied with keeping
the Queen's peace in Caffraria' that famous regiment might
have strengthened Lord Chelmsford's army, and the colo-
nists of the Cape might have been left to bear for themselves
the burden which, even in their neighbours' extremity, they
will not touch with one of their fingers:
"We must have patience, and the colonists must have
patience, in presence of a disaster which, though grave, is
evidently not beyond repair. The country will warmly
approve whatever measures the Ministry may consider
needful to recover the credit of the British as a military
Power in South Africa. If we were to surrender that
supremacy, De European population of those settlements,
whether English, Dutch, Portuguese, or Afrikander,
wOuld be placed at the mercy of the swarming tribes
of natives by whom they are surrounded. rhe cost
will be heavy—so heavy that by and by, no doubt, pub-
lic attention will be imleratively called to the' ques-
tion of our relations with the South African colonies. But
at present we see very clearly that the power of Cetywayo
must be broken ; and as we have undoubtedly the means of
effecting this, we are bound to use them with the utmost
energy and rapidity, lest the responsibility for some netv
disaster should be laid at our doors. It may be conjectured
from Lord Chelmsford's reference to a court of inquiry that
the defeat is attributed to tome imprudence op the part of
the detachment left behind when Colonel Glyn and the
General-in-Chief adVanced. The troops, it is said, were en-
ticed away' from their positions, and were fallen upon by the
Zulus in overwhelming numbers' about a mile and a quarter
outside the camp. It is to be hoped that the circumstances
attending 'this unfortunate affair,' as Lord Cheinidord
terms it—certainly in language not too strong—will be
cleared up for the sake of the discipline and the military
repute of the army: but it would be useless as well as un-
generous to fasten upon any individual as a scapegoat. The
surprise and matsscre of the British troops, though in-
volving heavier losses of English soldiers than those which
befell our arms in any of our former wars in South
Africa, closely resembled the reverses with which the
campaign .43. t 1846 opened, and those which caused the
people of the Cape Colony to keep the Christmas
of 1851 as .a day of solemn humiliation. Yet not
long afterwards the Callffes were reduced te submis-
sion ; at a heavy cost, it is true, and without much pro-
spect of permanent peace as long as the responsibility for
colonial defence was allowed to remain exclusively upon the
shoulders of the bipedal Government. It is now obvious
that Cetywayo's military tyranny was in truth as formidable
to his English neighbours, whom alone it threatened, as
Sir Bartle Frere represented it to be. The immense area of
difficult country over which the operations intrusted to Lord
Chelmsford extended must not be forgotten. It may be ad-
mitted that the troops in the aggregate were sufficient for the
task before them, and yet that such an attack in overpower-
fug force by the Zulus upon some weak point was within the
possibilities of the war. We cannot underteke such enter-
prises with any number of men, great or small, unless we
are content to run some risks. In the present instance we
have been signally unfortunate, but it would be an un-
dignified and foolish waste of time to deplore our bad luck.
The becoming answer to fortune's rebuff is to lay a firmer
grasp, without losing a moment, if that be possible, on the
business we have in hand,
"In one way the loss we have suffered is irreparable.
The gallant officers and men who succumbed to a vast
superiority of numbers will leave not alone those to whom
they were near and dear, but the whole nation as their
was, at tarrYate a fault,
brave the
man'swan
mourrsere. They di.d the death of breve men ; and if indeed,
of prudence id the
they paid file /3enalty.iodf,
iat
wgraves,
error. In other respecte. and looking first of all at the
military consequences of Lord Chelmsford's disaster and
retreat, the advantages we have Loop, it is clear, may
be speedily regained. The reinforcereenta wiach will
reach Natal within the next four or five weeks,
if not earlier, will enable the British commander to resume
the offensive against Cetywayo, who, it should be noted, has
purchased his regent victory with heavy losses amounting
in the aggregate' to some 9,000 men. That the Zulus will be
beaten it is impossible to'doesbt, tied the campaign will pos-
sibly be curtailed by the elation which their triumph
in the engagement of the 22nd Ult. 11;:s, no doubt,
Inspired, and which will induce them CO discard the
tactics of protracted bush-fighting and to meet the
English at once in the field. We should thus have little
further :ease for disquietude if it were not that the situation
might become fee-- more perplexing and perilous were the
natives in Natal or the Trenevaal, or even in the Cape Colony,
to rhe in imurrection. We nee 4 vrt, however, anticipate'
misfortunes which it may be hoped will e avoided, but
whieti, it is well to remember, are rendered more probple
by every hieer of delay. This danger has often been pointed
eut as a reason for snaking some permanent arrangement
by which the defence of 'those :uuth African colonies should
not be left dependent upon • the casual and hastily
sumnioned aid of the Imperial trteosss ; ket tithe] to
it hag been looked at, in this country at least, from ,a
theoretical paint of vie*. We have now -a painful and too
practical proof before us that the question is of close and
immediate concernmernt to to English people, as the next
Budget will assuredly show. The colenists of South Africa
must make up their minds to accept their reasonable share
of responsibilities, which at present they seem determined
to cast altogether upon the weary and heavy-laden mother
country,"

THE TWENTY-FOURTH lIPGIMENT.

From the following sketch, in the Daily Nelps of
Wednesday, it will be seen that the 24th (2nd War-
wickshire) Regiment, which suffered such terrible loss
in the above engagement, sttioda high among the most
distinguished regiments in the British army
"Hardly the 'Fighting Fiftieth ' itself boasts a longer roll
of brilliant service than the distinguished regiment which
has borne the first and, as Englishmen lope, the fiercest
brunt of the Zulu War. The 24th Regimen', otherwise the
2nd Warwickshire, and atill more familiarly Howard's
Greens,' ifi not only one of the most ancient but one of
the iziost active corps in the English army. As James
XI. raised the original lath, 17th, 19th, and 20th


Regiments to make head against the Prince 'of Orarge,
so did ring William 111. raise the 22nd, 2341, and
24th to midst him in his «xpeditien into rreland.
in the wars 'which finally brought the proud French
Monarchy to the duet the 24th Regiment took *distinguished
part. At Schellenberg and glorious Blenheim the 2nd
Warwickshire Regiment earned early laurels, and on the
terribly contested field of Malplaquet helped tb gain a
sanguinary and dearly purchased victory. From its early
history the 24th became inured to hard and sometimes
profitless fignting. It figured at the unsuccessful
sego of Carths,gena, at Minorca, in Egypt, and at the
capture of the Cape of Good Hope under General Clarke
and Admiral Elphinstone. In the Peninsula it figured
at Talavera and at Fuentes d'Oaor, at the well-fought fields
of Salamanca and Vittoria, at St. Sebastian, at Nivelle, and
at Orthez. After fighting through the hard Peninsula cam-
paigns, the 24th, with the luck which seems to have pursued
the regiment. was absent from the crowning glory of
Waterloo. When the long interval of peace WAS broken
by the action of the successors of Runjeet Singh, the
24th again came to the fore for a share of hard knocks,
and in the war of Mooltan, which succeeded the
campaign on the Punjab, suffered severely. On the 13th
January, 1849, a little more than tWrty years be-
fore the fight by the Tagela River, the English army,
under the command of Lord Gough, whose previous experi-
ences had not been held sufficient to incapacitate him from
command, arrived at Chillianwallah, when it became, or
' rather appeared evident that the Sikhs had quitted their
strong entrenchments on the heights, and were ready to light
ia the open. So far as can be ascertained, the English com-
mander had determined to defer the assault till after a care-
ful reconnaissance had been made on the next day.
Directions had been given to mark out the encampment
when the Sikhs commeaced firing, and the English
commander, apparently yielding to a fit of irrita-
tion, issued orders for immediate action. The Sikhs
poured out so heavy a fire from the jangle that the
smoke prevented the English troops from forming any
accurate idea of their position ; but in spite of this can-
nonade and the short interval of day-light left—from an hour
to an hour and a half, according to various reports; the
divisions were ordered to advance. Under General Camp-
bell, afterwards Lord Clyde, were two brigades of infantry.
One of these, carnmanded by General Pennycuick, was com-
posed in part of the 24th Regiment—yeenng soldiers for the
most part. They came on with such fury that the Sikhs, brave
as they are, retired before their violent onset until Shore
Singh, an experienced soldier, observed that they were
breathless and exhausted with their exertions In toiling up
the ascent to the plateau commanded by his masked
batteries. According tc the report of eye-witnesses the
pace of Pennycutk's brigade had been too good for the other
divisions engaged in the advance, and the 24th dwelt' as it
were on the summit at the gentle acclivity they had
ascended at such tremendous speed. Before they had time
to recover themselves ths quick eye of Shere Singh detected
their breathless and disordered condition as he expressed it,
'panting like dogs in chase,' and at once unmasked his
guns. A shower of grape poured in upon the devoted 24th,
aud while they reeled under its tremendous impact, a
tremendous fire of musketry opened upon their shattered
ranks. The whole of Pennycuick's brigade fell into
hopeless confusion, and the most desperate efforts of the
officers failed to restore symmetry to the ranks.
While the 24th was being cut up on the hill, the
cavalry underwent equal disaster, and it was only by
a charge of the 3rd Hussars (then Light Drligoons)
under the gallant Unett, brother of the Unett who
fell in the attack on the Redan before Sebastopol, that
a rout of this part of the army was averted. Meanwhile
General Campbell came to the rescue of the luckless 24th, the
enfants perdul of a wild attack. Victorious in front he turned
upon the victorious Sikhs, who were preparing to demolish
all that was left of Pennycuick's brigade. After a deiperate
fight, Generals Campbell and Gilbert succeeded in rescuing
the fragments of the 24th Regiment.

"Never, perhaps, had regiment taken such severe punish-
ment, and yet held its ground. Twenl-three officers and
four hundred and fifty-nine non-commissioned officers and
men had been killed and wounded, and it was said that
the youngest captain in the regiment leapt to the top
of the list at one bound. It was, perhaps, necessary for
purposes of statecraft to maintain that Chillianwallah
was an English victory; but, nevertheless, the awkward
fact remained that four English guns were captured,
the colours of three regiments lost, and the unfortunate
24th, from no fault of its own, almost annihilated. What was
left of it participated in the triumph of Goojerat, which effec-
tually wiped out the defsat of Chillianwailah, as it may be
trusted the 24th of our day will Assist at the discomfiture of
Cetewayo mod all his hosts. It seems strange that, at an in-
terval of thirty years, similar disasters should overtake the
English army, and each time at the hands of a savage foe.
The disaster of Chiilianwallah appears to have been due to
impatience on the part of the English general; that' of
Rorke's Drift to want of accurate information as to the
numbers of the enemy. On either occasion the gallant 24th
have done their duty nobly, and died beforp letting their
battle flag, inscribed with names which brighten the eye
and quicken the pulse of Englishmen, fall into the hands of
the enemy."