The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1900-05-05
Battle of Spion Kop.

An officer who was present sends to
To-Day description of the plateau of
death known as Spion Kop. After de-
scribing the bungling and mismanage-
ment that preceded the disaster, he thus
describes the scene: "The surface was
lozenge-shaped and rocky, the front
varying from 100 to 30 yards in breadth,
and on this narrow space some $500
troops were huddled together. Two
trenches originally constructed by the
Beers were dug across the center, and
behind these our men attempted to con-
ceal themselves, often five or ten deep.
The Beers held the far edge of the hill
with very few men-probably not
more than fifty, certainly not hundred,
but hidden behind the crest, and pro-
tected by rocks. All efforts to dislodge
them. proved unavailing. Our men
quailed before their rapid and accurate
fire, and, though called on over and
over again by their officers, they were
driven back again and again.
Meanwhile the Boer artillery had be-
gun to play upon them with cross fire.
Each trench was en6laded by guns from
different positions. Shells bursting in
the right-hand trench drove flock of
fugitives to the left, only to be hunted
from that by the guns on the oher side.
The most horrible sights met the eye
everywhere. Men with half their heads
blown off, and others without legs or
arms and many disemboweled were seen
On all sides. And in the narrow and
crowded space one not only saw them,
but was thrown in contact with them.
and was even forced to walk among
the mangled bodies. Bullets from the
Boer positions at long ranges ratified
over Spion Kop till the place became a
regular hell on earth. All day this
lasted; more men, and yet more, poured
up to reinforce, and to meet destruction.
Just before dark the rifles from Pot
gieter's Hill captured another point,
after some loss, on the east side of
Spion Kop, and established themselves
pretty securely.
IF this had been done earlier in the
day it would have had some effect, but
it was now too late. The other troops
were thoroughly disorganized, and had
become practically useless. The Lam
cashire Fusileers had lost four hundred
men, and the sight of the horrors
around them had preyed more than
anything else on the minds of the SOL
diers. The general did not intend to re-
tire, but the officer in command made
up his mind that the position was un-
tenable, and possibly he was right, when
the morale of the troops was taken into
account. Certainly, if determined at
tack had been made on them during the
night, they could not have been relied
on to resist, and would probably have
been hurled pell-mell over the edge to
certain destruction. Anyway, retreat
was ordered, and in the morning the hill
was again in the hands of the enemy.
THE effect of a terrible fire such as
was experienced on Spion Kop on the
minds of men is very curious. Soldiers
who had gone through the day without
scratch were so overweight that
when, overcome with fatigue, they lay
down to sleep, they sprang up again and
ran off in the dark without Knowing
what they were doing or where they
were going. At other times they ran
round and round in circles, and threw
themselves down again, crying out for
the companions they had lost."'