The Chilhowee echo. [volume] (Knoxville, Tenn.) 1899-19??, 1899-11-04
! Our Cousins i'm (Unifornnp
w. G. t.

among the British officers. The list
sh, .ws that while 76 enlisted men have
been killed and 435 wounded, Is officers
have been killed and 55 wounded. One
|dead officer to every four dead men! 1t
lis calculated that in ordinary circum-
stances one officer falls to each twenty
five men. At Glencoe the proportion
of killed to wounded among the men
waS thirty to one hundred and fifty-six,
while ten officers were killed to twenty
two wounded. In the American war
with Spain one officer was killed for
cath twelve men killed--and this NOR
tally rate among the officers was more
than twice as great as ordinarily results
in battle, as shown by past experience.
Ard the mortality among British officers
in the Transvaal is three times greater
than this.
The United States military tactics
teach officers not to unnecessarily ex-
poss themselves or their men, but to
take every advantage of protection that
offars. Each man is expected to pro-
tect himself as well as he can on the
firiag line. This is the sensible meth
cd, but the white man was long time
in adopting tactics employed by the In
dian, who has always regarded his
xxrhtta hpothor DC q fool fop ,,opaoocco
rily exposing himself in battle. Many
| soldiers lost their lives in the civil war
by scorning the friendly protection of
trees, rocks, bitches, etc. They thought
lit an indication of cowardice to thus
lsee. protection for their bodies. But
I MI OF them got bravely over that false
~ IN as they learned something of the
Ind science of war. Fighting in
n1kpn at short range, in some
lk6nsibie when the o1d-fash-
Toned, slow-loading, short-range gun
W. Employed, is not permissible now,
when the rapid-fire, long-range gun
would make such method merely use
less slaughter.
The British tactics do not require off
GERS to lie down, and it has never been
theicustom in the British army. Eng
lish officers apparently feel that they
cannot afford to depart from the old
way, which has always been to lead
their men, and the British soldier,
whether he be stolid Englishman, a
sturdy Scot or dashing Irishman, is
taught to follow where the officer leads,
even into the arms of death or the jaws
of hell. The British soldier requires
leadership, and he never lacks leaders.
British officers are drawn exclusively
from the upper classes-men who by
birth and training possess the require
ments of leadership, and who do not
falter in their duties. There are no
braver men in the world than those
who compose the British army. Eng
lish couragesapd chivalry have for cen
turies compe1ll the admiration of the
world. From Acre and Ascalon, Crecy
and ,,hgincourt, Fontenoy, Balaklava
1 and WaterlqoA all the way, the splendid
courage, that spirit of determination
which dies net, and the enduring BRAY.
cry of the British soldier shine forth in
undying splendor. The spirit of King
Arthur and Richard Ceur de Leon still
survives; Give and Sir Herbert Ed
wardes and Colin Campbell have theil
counterparts when occasion calls, ant
the acts of chivalry. and the knight.
deeds of song and story are repeated
over and over by race which has sur
vived for centuries without decadenct
and which has steadily grown in splen
dor and greatness.
The British soldiery in the Transvaa
are fighting a foe who knows how t,
fight and to die, and the war will ado
new names to the list of the living ant
the dead heroes, from general officer
to Tommy Atkins of the trenches
Doubtless the Victoria Cross will CLEAN
where it has not shown before. 1t /
worth something to read of Piper Mac
Kenzie, of the Seaforth Highlanders
who marched to glory in the very teetl
of death at Atbara in the Soudan, pip
ing ''Bonnie Dundee y while his clothe
were being torn with bullets and dye
with his own blood; and of Alan Stuart
of the Cameron Highlanders, who stoo
on the breastworks and piped 9Th
March of the Cameron Men, until she
tolpieces. and who died crying "Scot
lahd forever" or of Pipers Kidd an
Fihdlater, of the Gordon Highlander'
the immortal Gay Gordons, who pipe
away at Dargai after their legs ha
! been shot through. 1t is worth some
thing, say, to read of such things, an