The Monticellonian., 1899-12-08
STORY OF MODD|I RIVER.
A London Daily CT ronicle Corre- spondent's Ac ount of the
 Bloody Battle.
IT LASTED NEAP-Y FOURTEEN HOURS,
The BrItish Advnncsc Met With a NeritnbIe Hail of Lead, and Thourh ihe Boers Ultimately Re- tired, .iey Did So In Good Order, fakfu, Their Guns With Them.

Londf n, Dec. 5.-The Daily Chroni- clc put fishes the following dispatch, dated Wednesday. November 29. morp ing ing rom its correspondent at M0dd'r Riv camp: A
 ]" The severest engagement our eol- u m has yet had, and probably the everest of the whole comsaign. was fought yesterday on the banks of the Modder river. The bat tie was waged fiercely for nes ly four teen hours. A
 Boers Strongly Intrer.hcd.
 "The enemy occupied ftrongly in- trenched position, their font extend ing five miles along the bank of the stream. They were well Supplied with artillery and fought dsperately.
 Our force consistei of the second battalion of the Collstream guards, the first battalion O. the Scots guards, the third battaliof of the Grenadicr guards, the first bs talion of the North umberland fusilsers, the second bat talion of the Yfrkshire light infantry (the Kings Ovh), a part of the first
 
 regiment, tie Ninth lancers, the mounted in antry, three batteries of field artilltry and the first battalion of the Argyll and Sutherland High flanders Princess Louise's).
 &rrived Just in Time.
 'The latter reinforced us from Gen. Wauclope's brigade, and arrived just iE tine for the fight. The battle stared at daybreak, our guns she'll ing the Boers' left.
 frhe enemy replied with artillery Fotchkiss and Maxims, and the artiI- ,ery duel lasted some hours. Then sthere was brief Hull in the enemy's operations, of which the general im- mediately took advantage. Our in- fantry advanced across the plain to- wards the river in two brigades. The guards, on the right, were met by an awful hail of bullets from the enemy's sharpshooters, posted close to the river on the opposite bank. Ours had no cover whatever, and were simply moved down. It seemed impossible to live through the terrible fire. but the brave fellows did not retreat an inch The Boer fire was terribly accurate; and they must have numbered at least 10000.
 The Scots Guards Advance.
 'The Scots guards advanced 600 yards before they were fired on. Then they had to lie down to escape the deadly fusilade, which lasted without intermission throughout the day.
 he Highlanders made several at tempts to force passage of the river, but they were exposed to such a murderous enflading fire that they had to retire after they had suffered terribly.
 subsequently, party of the guards got over and held their own for hours against vastly superior force.
 Never Faced such Fire Before.
 "The general opinion of the staff is that there had never been such a sus- tained fire in British annals as that which our troops had to face yester- day. Our men fell in dozens while trying to rush the bridge.
 Among the many heroic deeds, one of the most conspicuous was that of Lieut.-Col. Cordington of the Cold stream guards, Capt. Sellburn of the Queensland contingent, and a dozen members of the Coldstream guards, who jumped into the river and swan nearly to the other side in the face of steady fire; but who were forced to retire and, joining hands, swan back, two of their number being nearly drowned in the retreat
 The Bocrs Retreated mt Night.
 "Fhe British guns kept up a heavy fire all day, and fearful havoc was wrought on the Boer positions, the enemy being forced to fly from their intrenchmcnts. Night put an end to tine terrible bloodshed. The infantry brigade was dreadfully cut up.
 The Boers retreated at night. tak- ing their guns with them, and We are now occupying their positions. The enmy's loss was tremendous.