The semi-weekly miner. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1882-1886, 1882-09-16
Gong into Battle.

tew men, very Few l0en, 70 into
action for the flrst time without
thinking great deal Of the bullets
and the danger, and wishing it was
all over and they wer safe; the second
time they IRE under fire they remem.
ber the last time when they came out
Of 1t unhurt, and they think . great
deal les of the bullets, aud more
Of the work In hand. than they did
on the former day. Take an instance
from the late war against the Zulus,
where We had mestly young soldiers,
with only a srrinkiinx OF old ONES.
There funk" refined UNIVERSAL viii.
young and old. There is no need
here 10 tell the old tale IT the nightly
acares, Of the stampedes, Of the terr0r
which crept over faces when u Zulu
was mentioned. A lancer rides In
with dispatches, aud the remark flies
rOund the ruMk-"LtsOk how hes
riding; he's looking behind him;
the Zulus are after him." These and
add thousand other instances were
hut the natural outcome Of ignorance
looking forward into the unknown
with men suddenly called upon to
face something which existed only in
their imagination, snd ~ such was
ricturesl in the blackest cOl"rs. But
ut Clun.li. where the Zulu~ came
round the little square in tl,ouaands
with the sun shining on them, our
men saw that they were only men
like Themselves after all, aud blazcxl
away nlerrily into the ''hrown" Of
them, oh wing the words Of ~n,,nad
just as they used tO 10 at Aldershot
with the blank cartridges blowing of
in their friends faces. Clundi work.
ad vast change in their minds.
Hencef"rth they knew that the ritlts
they carried were not mere toys tO
make nOi~e with: and they learned
that II WAS useful thing for tl,cns-
selves il they 0leyed their officers.
They lad seen q group of twenty or
more Zulus creep into bueh in front
Of them. and by . well-tiMel vOllcv
disappeared. and they remembered It
was their officer whe had told them
to fire that v0lley; without his direct
ing word they would have p'tted
away, and they knew, TIL tomorrow
or the day after. And from that
time there were no more searcs. IN
much for the apprenticeship stage.
Now this stage once over, and the
younI soldier knew IA much about
fighting ~ the old Que, with all that
buOyancy of youth spoken Of above
10 hack him un: and 50 the value Of
the men II no longer equal. 1t has
been the writer's good fortune lately
tO have seen a gNxl deal Of real hard
fighting. with men under him who
had learned their apprenticeship IL
fire thoroughly: AMI what has he
seen, mt once, hut repeatedly, in
action: il. has SEEN the old soldier
hreathlcss. always in u hurry, stun-
bling when lie might have walked
strajyht: not showing cowar.'ire but
will, his head gone, amu fingers
too nervous tO stick uo the sight Of
his rifle. While in the same action.
he has seen the bny-sGldicrs' faces lit
ur with anxiety, lOOkin" UP nj his.
listening for the word Of command,
moving hastily, hut always under
check, and never hc-itatimg when 1t
was an advance that was called for.
Tine fat lu,y, under twenty, belonging
to some civil department, and so out
cn thesiy. he remembers we'll. He
had = tut face, very placid. with
r.'u"d eyes, sl,es'p-iike III expression.
In no way l.rroi,. ar flashing fire, ~
Youths eyes .lo in pictures Of lmttle-
fields, and this f.at lny kept close to
him all the time when the firing was
the hottest. Whenever he l.n,ked
dawn l,c found himself lM'Eing int"
the depths of his placid eyes, which,
asked, quit: Enthusiastically. what
''sighi" he si,oul.l PUT ul' to the riil:.
hr grnslesl Oh his knee below them.
How aud then he gave him what l,e
thought WAS the distance. when he
adjusted the lar ~ I,.eti,.nlically y AZ il
ON parade. turning il sideways tO sss'
II the line cor, eSl".,'lca exactly with
the figures, and Their, raising it Ms
csnlly as ever, gently delivered his
tire and returned to the ready posi-
ti0p.-Hhr.Ew,M.d Nuvs:i..".