Complex sentence: Anita asked if she could search among the dead in battle, but without finding him, this gave hope to Anita, who after a while crept up on a camp horse, mounted it and escaped at a gallop.
Split into simpler sentences: Anita asked if she could search among the dead in battle. This gave hope to Anita, who, after a while, crept up on a camp horse, mounted it, and escaped at a gallop.