The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1879-08-07
THE VICTORY OF THE HOLLOW
SQUARE.

The expected battle between the Bri-
tish and the Zulus has taken place, and
Lord Chelmsford has retrieved his re-
putation. The fight was desperate one
but the victory rested with the British,
and the prestige of the Zulu King being
broken, his utter destruction is almost
assured. .....r
The movements Of Lord Chelmsford
for some time past have indicated a pur-
pose to make one more grand effort
for the retrieving of his reputation be-
fore the arrival ofhis successor. He had
seriously blundered in the first cam
paign and his second opened inauspiCi-
ously, but he was determined to set
everything upon the hazard of another
battle, and when once started lost no
time in pushing matters to a final issue.
The messages from the Zulu King look
ing to peaceful issue were met with
demands more stringent than before,
and little liable to be accepted. When
Sir Garnet Wolseley heard of the recep.
ton ri zen the Zulu messengers he re-
pudiated the action and dispatched fresh
messengers with more pacific overtures
to Cetywayo. But General Wolseley
was far in lthe rear and Lord Chelms-
ford kept pushing on in front until the
Zulu headquarters were nearly reached.
Then an ultimatum was sent. and at the
expiration of the appointed time with.
out the fultlllment of the conditions, ac-
tive hostilities commenced. After a
severe conflict the Zulu ranks were COM
pletely broken, and the army of King
Cetywayo, which was directed by him
self in person, became demoralized and
sought sa ETY. in flight. The Zulu head
quarters were burned and the dusky fIy.
ing warriors we're hunted down by cav
airy and mounted men. The British
loss is placed at ten killed and tifty.three
wounded, while the Zulu loss ia vari
ously estimated at from eight hundred
to thousand men. ht
The success of the British is undoubt.
edly attributable to their return to a
style of fighting that had been nearly
abandoned. In the old days of Eng.
lands glory as military nation, under
Wellington and other heroes of the
Peninsular war and the wars in other
parts of Europe, the favorite plan of the
English was to form In hollow square
and repel the charges Of the enemy. II
was this that won Waterloo and many
other famous battles. The men kneli
or stood three deep in the form of hol.
low square, with the colors in the center
presenting to the enemy on all sides q
triple wall of living men, a threefold
row OF glittering steel, and continuous
succession of lines of fire. Against this
barrier the masses Of Napoleon's army
flung themselves in vain. 1t was like
the waves beating against the rocks. Al
the men fell the lines closed up and the
square contracted, but that was all
Every man fought with the knowledge
that he was protected in flank and real
by his comrades, and had only the enc
my in front to contend with. Wher
arms of precision and long range were
introduced, and charges in mass less ant
less frequently resorted TO, the hollow
square formation became less and lesl
frequently resorted to, the hollow squar,
formation became Of little utility, and ii
fact highly dangerous as offering capi
tai target for long range shooting. Fight
ing in open order became the favorit,