The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1900-01-29


There Has Been Conspicuous Bra
very in the Presence of the En-
emy-Where Possible 1t Is Pre-
sented by the Queen i'm Person.
Lord Roberts, of Kandahar, who Is at
the Cape in charge of the biggest BTU
ish army that ever took the Held, is
little man, as every one Knows ana
there Is not much room left on MS coat
for additional medals. But of all the
honors betokened there and all the 9th
ers which a public has given to him ana
will shower upon him later II he fulliiis
their hopes in the Transvaal, the SIM
plest the least expensive intrinsica4iy'
and by far the most democratic. is tho
one for which, if necessary, you may pe
sure he would sacrifice all the others:
It is the victoria Cross, the first In the
row on his breast.
Some of the humblest men, soclally
and financially. in the empire have Dec
orations Just like It. But. general ana
private white man and black, eacn hao
the proudest moment of his life Wnen
that little bronze cross was laid upon
his breast. And Lord Roberts. sailing
away to fight on the field where his only
son had Just been slain, probably was
~OSN
consensus Of opinion that the action IN
which the young man lost his life would
have won for him also the Victoria
Cross If he had lived.
WON IN MUTINY.
Lord Roberts won his v. c. In the IN
dian mutiny, when only lieutenant,
forty-one years ago, in the course of an
action that was unpleasant enough to be
named Khodagunge While the fighting
was going on he saw two of the enemy
Sepoys-malSing off with British colors.
He was on horseback. and started after
them, when they turned On him and aim
ed their muskets at him. One missed him,
the others gun missed fire, and by that
time he was on them, slashing away with
his sword. He killed one. The other took
to his heels and the standard was safe
Only few minutes before the lieutenant
had saved the life of one of his men by
cutting down a Sepoy who was about to
kill him with bayonet.
Lord Roberts wears nine decorations
on his breast on dress occasions and
how many more he may have no one
feels sure; even the religiously exact
army list contents Itself with naming
five, and then says, breathlessly, etc,
etc."
OF the medals, the first on dress occa-
the India mutiny decoration, with three
bars, one for Delhi, one for Lucknow
and one for the relief of Lucknow: the
third Is the India medal for 1854, with
three clasps-for Burmah, Umbeylah
and Looshai, meaning that this officer
distinguished himself afresh in each of
these: the fourth is the Abyssinian med
al; the fifth. the Afghan, and the sixth
that of Kabul-Kandahar, in recognition
of his remarkable march and victorious
battle with Ayub Khan. The orders be-
meath are the Order Of the Bath, the
Star of India and the Order of the In
dian Empire.
GEN. BULLER'S CROSS.
Gen. Sir Redvers Butler is another VIC
toria Cross man. His decoration was
granted to him for saving three lives in a
retreat after a battle with the Zulus. He
was then a captain and brevet lieutenant
colonel. The Zulus were pressing the
+. British troops hard, when an officer
horse was killed and its rider left in
fearful danger. Butler gaHoped back,
took the officer up behind him and car
ried him to a place of safety. Returning,
he found a young lieutenant in precisely
the same fix, ard he did the trick over
again. When he got back q trooper 8
animal had just fallen, exhausted, and
for the third time Buffers horse carried
double load, and Butler exposed him
self to the enemy to save comrade, al
though the Zulus were not a hundred
yards away.
Sir George White, so long ''bottled up
in Ladysmith, won the Victoria Gloss
under Lord Roberts in Afghanlstan, by
charging fortified hill and taking it,
backed by only q few men, At that time
he was major in the famous GORDON
Highlanders They advanced under a
racking fire, and on reaching the top
of the slope found themselves outnum-
bered ten to one. Quick as wink White
grabbed rife from one Of his men and
shot the Afghan chief. His followers
became demoralized, and the Gordons
routed them. Later in the same cam
psign, in the mrach to Kandahar Rob-
erts named White a. second time in his
dispatches for having rushed on ahead
of his men and captured q, gun. He
ended by succeeding his superior officer
by becoming commander-in-chief in H.
dia.
1 asked the officer in charge Of the
medal branch Of the war Office how Vic.
toria cross was obtained after it had beer
won.
LITTLE RED TAPE
why, there isn't as much red tape
about it as you would fancy" he said
''The action as reward for which the
cross is given must be performed in the
presence of the enemy, and 1t is desirable
that the superior officer of the man wht
distinguishes himself should have wit
messed It, 1t happens sometimes, how
ever, that no officer is present, and in
case like that the candidate must prov,
by his companions that he really did VIVA
he asserts that he did. When his imme
date superior is satisfied that he ought t
be rewarded he writes an account of tn,
business and hands it to the officer II
command of the forces, and he indorse!
the papers and sends them on to the wa
office. Here they are laid before Lore