Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1895-08-29
A SOLDIERS STORY.


My first battle was at ANU khan IN
. Egypt \ force of 1000 British troops
marching M the country was attacked
near the wrctchcd village by about 1000
| Arabs. We sIirln sh"d with Thorn for an
| hour before we halted to give battle and
were fully aware that we stood first rate
chance to be wiped out to tho last man.
On our left and rear was open plain, in
our front the village and some poorly Cul-
tivatcd fields, ON our right long, low
sand hill
The Arabs had six pieces Of artillery,
and they made the mistake of placing
three of them at the foot of this sand hill
instead of on the ridge. As soon as these
three pieces opened fire on us u detail was
luadc Of is sharpshootcrs to pick off the
gunncrs. ! wa, one of the 49, and we lay
fiat and rested our carbincs across tho
packs thrown off the camels. There were
six of us to a gun. We first shot down
every artillery horse within range and then
paid our attention to the men.
Each sharpshootcr fired coolly and to
hit There were about 20 mon working
the three guns and in ten minutes we
dropped 30 of them in their tracks, and
the fragment fled through a narrow pass
and around the hill for shelter. In every
case ! aimed at the body, and as the dis
G
to be thought Of killed three of the 40.
We were ordered to hold our position and
pay no attention to what was going on
around us In the course of five minutes
n body of 80 men rushed down the slope to
get the guns in action again. | fired four
shots and saw four men drop. Some of my
comrades got three and some two, but of
\ that crowd only one Arab got away.
They next sought to man the guns by
dashing out through the narrow pass. We
had a direct fire on the spot and hcapcd up
IS men before they abandoned the project.
OF this number I had three to my credit.
Six of the .harpshootcrs were then detail
ed to guard the useless guns, and the other
II of us opened fire on the three pieces on
the ridge. We were four to gun and in
my four we divided off the enemy in quar-
tors and each man fired only at those al
lotted him. In 10 minutes we cleared tho
ground of every living man. and in an
other 10 the enemy was in retreat killed
II men on tho ridge, making II in all.
Some of my comrades got more, some less.
General Williams was pleased TO say in
his official report of the battle that the
sharp shooting Of Is men went long
ways toward winning the victory. The
Arabs were in such force and attacked
with such vigOr and ferocity that every
man in British uniform had his work cut
ont for him. If the six ficldpicccs had
been permitted to play on the square with
shell and grape for five minutes the Arab,
would have had a victory and a slaughter
to rejoice over. Not one of the IS of u,
was wounded by the enemy, hut just at
the close of the fight four Of the number
were severely injured by the premature
explosion of Il cungrcvc rocket in the hand,
of our own men. Our loss i'm the buttlC
was 227 killed and $50 wounded, and yOr
can judge from these figures what dcs
pcratc fight it was. There We're no wound
cd among the Arabs-not when we hat
finished with thcm-but there were l, 2g(
dead men.
Two weeks later, as we assembled the
Nile in the Medusa. an Arab battery
opened fire, but was quickly silcnccd by
our heavy guns. a hundred infantry
were thrown ashore to keep the coast clcaI
while the boat 5 crew matlo prizes of thu
guns. The enemy had the advantage O
the wood, and also knowing the country
well, and after Il few minutes we saw HI
was about to execute flank movement
Strangely enough, | was horror struck Il
the idea of shedding blood on this occa
sion As we got the order l took hur
ried aim at an Arab standing quite alone
and at the report of my carbine he fel
like stone At the same time broad
side from the ship Went in among tn
trees. and the enemy disappeared, W
could scarce tell how.
felt as though | must 60 up to my vic
tim and see whether he was dead or alive
He lay quite still, and | was more afrai
of him lying 50 than when he stood facin
me few minutes before. It's a strang
a al at I bo
you have killed a man. He had unbut
toned his jacket and was pressing hi
hand over the front of his chest where I'll
wound was. He brcathcd hard, and tn
blood poured from his wound, and ais
from his mouth every breath he took. Hi
face was white as DEATH and his eye
looked so big and bright as he turne
them and stared ut mel shall never for
get it,. He was fine young fellow, no
more than five and twenty. | went dow
on my knees beside him, and my breas
felt so full, as though my heart woul,
burst
lie had a real English face and did no
look like an enemy. What | felt ! ncvc
can tell, but if my life would have save
his | believe I would have given it. l lai
his head on my knee, and he graspcd holt
of my hand and tried to speak but hi
voice was gone I could not tell Il wor
he said, and every time he tried to spcal
the blood poured out so | knew it woul
soon be over. ! am not ashamed to sa
that | was worse than he, for he never she
II tear, and l couldn't help it.
His eyes were closing when n gun wa
fired from tho ship to ORDER lis aboard, an
that reused him. He pointed to the beach
where the boat was Just pushing off wit
the guns we had taken and where our ms