The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1899-10-14

IN That famous speech which win svsr Be
connected In history with the name %
pAxHAi: 'sHighiAnders. the general Rys
the position must be taken ~ all cesss
The 0crdons win take II II ever one
man's cool assurance and unbounded con-
fidence In his regiment helped 70 turn TIM
pending disaster into brilliant success, 1t
was dous by Col Nathan few strong
words that afternoon. Reused to fierce
enthusiasm by their leaders, stirring speech
ard by the familiar skdri Of the pipes.
the Highlanders leaped to the assault Up
they came. . long thin string OF men with
stern, set faces stumbling, scfambling up
the steep, IN frenzy Of courage not to be
gainsaid. amid occasional spasmodic gasps
from the pipes and cheers from any who
had breath to utter. sight tor those who
witnessed IL TO remember al their liveA
But no longer was the attack to BE- at
tempted by the fruitless valor Of small
detachmentB and driblets of men strux-
Cling out through . crowded mass. AZ
the Gordons neared the gap the word was
passed up and shouted along to clear
line for the Gordons." and the mass above
surged and swayed apart, leaving mar
row pathway clear
The Gordons enjoyed the inestimabls
advantage Of being to . certain extent
familiar with the ground, from having
descended from Dargai two days before
by the very path which they were now
about to ascend. They therefore know
that when once the dangerous space to
the foot OF the cliff was crossed the
heights could be scaled. Moreover, short
ly before the Gordcns' advance Gen.
Kempster had asked for . rapid artillery
fire to Be concentrated on the enemy's
sangars. and at this moment q perfect
avalanche Of shot and shell broke from
the eighteen guns on the Kotal and swept
over our heads upon the position. Under
cover Of this. combined with the torrent
Of Independent fire from the Dorsets.
Derbys and GurkhaS. the Gordens
streamed through the gap one after an
other as fast as they could Chamber up.
and dashed across the open space beyond.
Bullets whistied and spat ell around them
as thick as ever. but, though q large
number were wounded fortune so far ia
vored them that only one oflicer and two
men were actually killed, . smaller num-
Der than that lost by any of the other
regiments. Probably the enemy's fire
grew wild and inaccurate under the
storm Of shrapnel that rained upon the
sangars, aided by the sight Of the now
at last continuous stream OF men pouring
through the gap: for in quantity at least
Il had not abated one whit at FIRST. In
momentary pause. after the first two
groups Of Gordons had passed. COM
pAny OF the DerbyS started up ana fot-
lowed them. and then another. and then.
as from a dam let loose. the long pent up
mass at the gap broke through, ana an
indiscriminate crowd of Gordons. Derbys.
Dorsets, Sikhs and Gurkhas were rushing
pellmell across the open.
The day was won. Whether Il was. ~
some think. that the snemy's supply OF
ammunition was running short after the
five hours fight. or whether they were
cowed b. their failure to stay the advance
to the foot Of their position they broke
and Ned when the leading troops were stia
200 yards below them. The Anal storming
Of the steep track to the crest. which
few resolute men amply supplied with am
munition might still have made impossible.
was accomplished unresisted. When. at :
O'Clock precisely, the heights were crown
ed. beyond some splashes Of blood and
heaps Of empty cartridge cases. no sign
was visible Of Afridi or OraksaL alive or
dead. This seems to preclude the belief
that their losses can have been very heavy.
Ours amounted. all told. to 100, including
three officers killed, ten wounded zone ia
tally. and thirty-three men killed.-Mac-
millan's Magazine.