The Abilene reflector. [volume] (Abilene, Kan.) 1883-1888, 1886-12-09
ARMY PANiCS.
Some of the Most Remarkable Incidents
of Ibis Kind ON Record.

Some of the Most Remarkable Incidents
of This Kind Record.
Napier, in his "PCn:nSular War"
devotes but some eight or nine lines to
AZ account OF the most remarkable
recorded incident of this nature, IL
which Robert Crauford's celebrated
Light Divis;On--cons' sting of those
three distinguished reg ments. the Fifty
third, the F.fty-second and the Ninety
tfth-were seized and put to flight by
an attack of fear so sudden and cause
less that the historian makes no at
tempt whatever TO ascribe reason for
it The Light Division. he writes,
| ''encamped in pine wood. where hap
pened one of those extraordinary panic5
| attributed in ancient times 10 the infiu-
ence of god. No enemy was near, no
alarm given, when suddenly the troops,
as # seized with frenzy, started from
sleep and disappeared in every direc-
ton; nor was there any possibility of
allaylng this strange terror; until some
persons called out that the enemv'S
cavalry We're among them, when tho
soldiers mechanically ran together, and
the Illusion was dssipated. 1t seems
odd that so diffuse Il writer should have
seen fit TO say so little of so eXtraOrd;-
nary an occurrence, more especially
when we remember that this same Light
Division was the flower OF the British
army in the Peninsula, and that he writes
of it not many pages before as composed
of three regiments s.ngularly fitted Tor
difficult service. Long and carefully
sciplned by Sir John Moore, they
came to the field with such knowl-
edge of arms that six years of warfare
could not detect flaw in their system,
nor were they ever overmatched in
courage and skill"
In South Africa the d:sasterof Isand-
lhwana gave the soldiers nerves Sc
we're shaking, and it often happened
that false alarms ut night led to the
rOusIng of whole camps, and sometimes
even to a reckless discharge of fire.
arms. In some cases friendly natives
or even comrades were taken by the
the excited Imagination of a sentry for
enemies; in others. unoffendng cattle,
even bush or shrub, became the in
noccnt cause of fusillade sufficient to
have dealt widespread destruction to q
host of Zuus.
An odd incident, illustrative of the
slightness of the cause-or even, per-
haps, of the absence of any cause at
all-that gives rise to a panic, occurred
on the night of Tel-el-kebir, amidst
small corner of the force that was
bivouackng on the battlefield. Tic
narrator had crawied into marquee,
in which, with other commissariat
stores, were the rum casks from which
the troops had received Their liquor ra-
ton after the fatigues and excitement
of the days fight and the previous
night-march. Besides one or two COM
miSsariat issuers in charge of the stores,
severl ''odds and ends of other corps
had found their way into the marquee,
preferring to rest under its shelter.
am d the casks and biscuit-bOxes, than
udder the open sky with the sand for a
bed. Suddenly, in the middle of the
night, when all were sleeping, noise
and commotion began in the bivouac
outside. Before the inhabitants of the
tent were sufficiently awake to under
stand its cause, the curtains were thrust
aside by relocated soldier, who
shouted to us to get up: 1.-The Arabs are
in the camp-they are upon usn' Then
he disappeared as rapidly as he had
come. Every one sprang to his arms,
and probably experienced that espe-
ally uncomfortable sensation that is
caused by vague feeling of an unseen,
though imminent, danger against which
one is ignorant how to guard. Out
side every ore around was aroused and
up, eagerly striving 10 discover from
what quarter attack was to be expected.
Nothing, however. more unpleasant oc-
Cured than the advent of staff officer
ask NO the cause of the confusion.
Probably the truth never did reach
headquarters. Afterward, however, a
report gained ground-no other or bet
ter reason was ever forthcoming-that
the alarm arose from the screams of
sleeping solder, who, overweight,
perhaps, by the horrors of the day, had
been fighting his battle over again in
his Dreams Chambers journal.