The suburban citizen., 1900-03-17
TERRIBLE BOER RIFLES.
BRITISH sERcEANT's GRAPHIC MAR.
RATlVE OF 6ULLER'S FIRST RoUT.

The Night Before the BattIe-The First
Shell and the Horrors That Followed
tho second-AlI Day Undor the Boers'
Fire--rerrors of Thirst.
~ ERGEANT ALFRED MILLS,
~ of the First Battalion of Royal
y Dublin Fusiliers, who were in
the rout OF General Buffers
forces at Tugela River on December
10, writes to his parents of Ottawa,
Canada, giving some details Of that
battle He says:
"My Dear Mother--I have been in
my 6rst battle aud how [ am going to
describe the horrors of it to you 1
don't know. The night before the
battle we were all served out with ex-
ira ammunition so that each man
could 60 into action with $50 rounds.
! At the same time our commanding Of
ficer told us the Irish Brigade were
to attempt to cross Tugela River in
the morning and would try TO turn
| the enemy's left flank. He asked me
to tell the mon to keep up the honor
OF the old regiment. Reyeille was
sounded at $50 that morning, and
shortly after our brigade was on the
march toward the Boer position,
which was on very high hills on the
other side of the Tugela. The river
is about thirty TO fifty yards wide and
the Beers had it one mass Of barbed
wire entanglements. The Irish Brig
ade advanced to with 1900 yards of
the river in quarter column and
halted, but shortly after were ordered
to advance another 500 PAGES. All the
commanding officers wanted to extend
their battalions, but General Hart
wouldn't have it, and so, much against
their will, we started to advance again
in quarter column,
"There was q square burnt patch in
front of us. After we had gone q lit
tie way, and when we came near it,
the first Boer shell burst right in the
centre Of it, This did not do any
harm, s3 it was only intended to find
the range. The next shell, however,
came few seconds later, and before
we had time to extend, burst right in
the middle of my company and
Knocked over two whole sections.
was on the right Of the company. Sec
tions 5wo and three got the she'll.
| escaped. / looked around after it
burst and was almost overcome with
horror when I saw two Of ny com
rades with their heads blown clean
of, aud the remainder OF two sections
lying on the ground mangled. As
soon as the effect Of the shot was seen
by the enemy, their rife FIRE COM
menced. They had all the ant hills
marked white TO give them the range
aud as we were on broad open plain
our men began to drop fast
Although bullets, shell, shrapnel,
case shot aud machine explosive bull
lets were flying around us, we still
kept advancing. The whole battalion
was extended in firing line by this
time with our three companies Of the
first battalion in the most exposed posi-
tion. The BOcrs had burnt all the grass
in front Of their position, so the black
ground would show up our khaki uni
forms. We kept making shortrushes
of about one hundred yards each,
firing a few volleys from time to time,
until we arrived within o couple Of
hundred yards of the enemy. We
could not very we'll advances much
farther on account Of the river being
between us and the enemy. twas ct
this short range where great many
Of our boys fell Lying on the bare
ground they could be easily seen by
the Doors.
"I managed to get behind a small
tuft of grass and by showing my head
we'll into the ground when the Boer
fire became too hot l was not hit but
with all my scheming there were thou
sands Of bullets that almost came with
in range Of my retreat. As balls be-
gan to rain thicker some went between
my legs, some under my arms as I lay
face down, and more just missed my
head by an inch or two. Once l. put
out my hand and got a bullet between
my fingers. Another time, WITHOUT
realizing what marks they were for the
Boer aim, had crawled behind one
of the ant heaps when q man OF the
Enniskilen Fusiliers shouted. For
Gods sake, get away from that ant
heOp' J. crept of. A moment later
e shrapncl shell struck the heap and
blew it to atoms, killing and woundiug
seven or eight men who had crawlcd
up behind il. + fired 40 rounds, but
hadn't the satisfaction of seeing any
of my shots take effect, as the Beers
were completely under cover in their
trenches.
"To add to tho horror of the battle,
twas q burning hot day. The sweat
poured out of us like rain. The thirst
was harder to endure than the enemy's
fire. [ lost my water bottle in the
dark before going out in the morning,
and was so thirsty when my mouth
was filled with dust l could not spit
it out. Ny only thought was where
1 would get the bullet when it came
l was certain could not possibly get
back without being hit. One young
fellow Of the Enniskillen Fusiiers,