Ceredo advance. [volume] (Ceredo, W. Va.) 1885-1939, 1899-12-27
WARS HORRORS.
The Battle at Elandslaagte Described
by London Times Correspondent.
Fifteen of Schiers Brave Band of
TNvcnty-thrce Fen I'm Group
The Slaughter Among the
Horses Was Great.


laagte, realistically details the hor-
rors of war. lie writes:
THE battlefield, as it stood on the
Sunday, conveyed sufficient proof of
the severity of the fire. The wounded
had been removed by daylight, but
the burial parties had not arrived to
perform their last dnties to the dead
The men lay there as they had fallen
a sad, pathetic tribute to the courage
of the British soldier. We followed
this tragic trail-Highlanders, Man
cheSters and mounted volunteers lay
indiscriminately grouped. The soli-
tary figures under the stones showed
how little the cover had awaited them
There was places where wire fences
had impeded the advance. Here the
carnage had been great, and one
brave fellow, stopped in death, cut off
as he Strove to wrench a post from
it's foundations. On the SKY line of
the tableland the dead lay thickest
this being the main spot where the
attack had been checked. but the
white flag was already there, and
strings OF coolies were digging the
trench, which so often is the soldiers
resting place.
1--WE rode back to the Roer position
the little kopic upon which Schcl
and his - men had made their last
stand. The bodies of the - that had
fallen of this little band were group
ed as death had taken them. Some
lay with heads sunken upon their RI
tlc stocks, fighting to the end. An
other had placed his hat upon prom
inent stone five yards away and had
died with his fingers pressing a
charge into his magazine. What re-
manned Of the laagcr was the litter
OF shell fire, Tents were torn ana
burned, wagons splintered and over
turned, foodstuff, dead horses and
explosives lay in wrecked profusion.
There remained no doubt that our
shell fire had played upon the posi-.
ton with fun effect and one could
only marvel that the Beers had stood
To their guns so long. But. as one of
the wounded prisoners told me later
in the day, there was no room to re-
treat. the oNterded files of the Man
chester regiment overlapping the re-
verse OF the kopic. sweeping the
northern footpath while the rain OF
shrapnel destroyed every living thing.
London. Dec. Related South At.
rican dispatches throw no light upon
the present situation at the seat of
war. There is no confirmation of the
report that LadysmIth could hold out
several weeks longer, and it is feared
that this was circulated Ivy the Beers
for their own purposes.
he Daily Telegraph las a special
from Ch;cvcly, dated December 16.
which tells how Lieut.. Roberts. son
of Lord ioberts, fell at Tugcla river
1t says:
The horses of the 18th and Goth
batteries had been killed and iicutcn-
ant Roberts Capt. Schofield and Capt
Congrcvc, Of the rifles. attempted
with gunner volunteers. to drag out
the guns. Capt. Schofcld succeeded.
heiped Ivy corporal and some men.
Lieut.. Roberts was hit by a shell.
Capt. Congrcve was struck and wound
ed slightly. After while Capt. Con-
Srcvc, Capt. Foster and Mai Baptie
brought Lieut.. Roberts from the
open into little ravine. where he Law
hidden from the cnemy's terrible
ire.
Fourteen gunncrs, lG men OF the
pcvonshirc regiment and men were
with Col. Bullock. When the retire
mcnt was ordered these men. with iso-
lated parties OF Dcvonshircs and Scots
Fusilcers, together with some of the
Queens, were cut off and captured.
Many fought until late in the after
1sf Of q IT,.
the gauntlet of the Bocr Mauscrs
from hiding places along the river
bank.
At r. IN. 40 Beers approached the
abandoned guns. On cspying CoI Bull
lock-. Capt. Cougrcve and the Others
in the Iavine they called upon the
British to surrender Col. Bullock de.
clined, md threatened to shoot al
though ms party had only If rifles
The Iiocrs retired from Che runs and
"a p; riley ensured. Then tOC Beers rode
up within few yards Of the party.
but Col. Bullock sVcorc Lc would not
he mad" n prisoner. vhcrcupon u
Boer knocked him down with his rifle
butt"
\ dispatch 10 The Daily Mail from
Chicvcly. dated December II. csti-
mates th" casualties iu Gen. IIullook's
rcpIlsc rs 115O, including 332 MISSING.
u announces that portion Of the
l'riush troops have returned To-
Frc,rc.
The Chi"ycly correspondent Of the
standard. who attributes the whole
DISASTER involved i'm Gen. Buffers re-
pulse TO the mistake. of T,t T,.,,. g.;