The Houma courier. (Houma, La.) 1878-1939, 1900-06-09
a or THE WOUNDED.
Wonderf=l control over suRerinr
shOWn by English Soldiers
on the Battlefield.

During the present wal it has beer
proved in hundreds of instances that
the British soldier of to-day possesses
no less pluck and endurance than dis.
tinguished him in years gone by.
Hence we have heard so much about
the heToism of the wounded on South
African battlefelds, and how our va
liant soldiers have grimly continued
fighting after having been shot OF
otherwise injured by the foe.
Writing to his friends at home, onr
ETommy' describes the amazing ex-
plot of an officer in n of the bat
ties fought by Lord Methuen. The Of
ficer was only a yard or SO away from
him, when he saw him shot right
through the back. Despite this ter
rible injury, the wounded man re-
mounted his horse, and, galloping to-
ward the enemy, he succeeded in kill
ing three Beers. Having thus had his
revenge, he rode back to his company
and lay down until he could be car
ried to the ambulance.
Hardly less gallant was the conduct
Of one of the ~reservists, a London
grocer, who belonged to the mounted
infantry. He had the misfortune to
have his leg shattered and twisted by
a shell, but he induced one of his
comrades to pull the damaged limb
straight again and to turn him upon
his face. In this position he lay
steadily firing upon the Beers until
his. stock of ammunition was exhaust
ed, which did not happen until he had
fired a couple of dozen shots. In the
meantime his sufferings must have
been terrible, but he bore them with
the greatest fortitNde.
Marvellous bravery was displayed by
the marines at the battle of Graspan.
While he was sounding the "Charge!"
a bugler had ore of his thumbs shot
right off, but he merely shouted:
There she goes, boys and proceeded
with his bugling, as if nothing had
happened.
In n of the armored train disas-
ters a wounded volunteer behaved in
a very plucky manner No~twithstand-
ing that his right ear had been shot
away, he continued kneeIing in the
regulation position and firing with ad-
mirable GOODNESS and precision. With
every crack of his rifle he would crack
a joke, and this had the effect of keep
ing his comrades in good spirits and
preventing them getting Hurried or
excited in their shooting.
On the same occasion, a corporaI
who was desperately wounded and
lying OF his back, could use his
tongue, if not his weapons. against
the enemy. He exhorted his comrades
to give 'em beans,n which they did
to the best of their abiity-only those
of the leaden variety.
A sergeant. who was pinned to the
ground by a derailed truck, the edge
Of which rested IN his right hand, de-
termined that he would not thus be
~incapacitated for the fray. While suf-
fering considerable pain, he dug his
right hand out with his bayonet in
his left, and then proceeded to fire
100 shots at the enemy.
A trooper of the Border mounted
rifles, who had been hit no fewer than
three times by Boer bullets, was,
much to his disgust, sent to the hos
pital. Under his unwelcome deten-
ton there he chsfed so much that he
gave his nurses no small amount of
trouble.
One night he contrived to elude
their vigilance. and escaped from the
hospital, and after he had borrowed a
rifle and filed his bandolier with am
munition obtained from other pa
tients, he sailed forth to reioin his
regiment. The ardent soldier was,
however, overtaken before he had pro
ceeded very far, and, as he was still
anything but fit for service, he had
perforce to'return to the hospital and
remain there until properly recovered.
Our men have borne their wounds
with the utmost fortitude and cheer
fitness. A private of the Leicester
regiment had an exploding bullet 90
through his arm, which would ~neces-
state amputation. On the way to the
hospital, however, he laughed and
his only regret being that he
would not be able to have another
Of fghting. the Beers.
At Elandslaagte one of the Gordon
highlanders pressed on to the attack
after being hit in the leg; and it was
not until he had been struck by three
other bullets that he sank to the
ground. Then he took out his pine,
and, pending the arrival of the am
o~ulance, sought comfort in a smoke.
When examined at the hospital he
found to have four bullets in one
leg and two in the other. Another
'leaden messenger" had grazed his
while one had passed through
MS helmet and no fewer than ten
through the folds of his kilt. Despite
III his wounds the intrepid young sol
her fully expected he would o be f,
for the.front again.
A gallant marine serving on Lord s
lethUen's column, had one Of his I
lands shot off and was the next mo- Z
nent hit in the foot. Yet he would ]
give in until he was struck bv s
our bullets in the stomach, and thus 1
completely disabled