The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1900-02-25
BATTLE OF GAME TREE
STORY OF A DESPERATE sORTIE
FROM MAFEkING ON DEC. &c.
Impreenable Boer Position Attacked
and Over Half the St0rming Party
Killed or Wounded.
of the Associated Press.

Correspondence of the Associated Press
LONDON, Feb 14.-The first detailed de-
scription of the desperate sortie from Ma
feking made on Dec. rs comes from the
Reuter- correspondent in that hard pressed
little town. as follows:
''The day after Christmas we made an
attack upon the Boer lines. Our seven
Founders under Major Panzera had been
emplaced during the night on our left
front. AS dawn broke flash and a cloud
of white smoke showed they We're in ac-
ton. Shot after shot fell rapidly around
the enemy's position AS it grew lighter
the Maxim joined in, rapping automatical-
ly, and to the right the armored train crept
slowly, like a great black snake, over the
plain toward its destination. After that the
attack developed with marvellous rapidity
to the east of Game Tree Che fort we were
attacking), and Vernon and Fitzclarence
took up their positions preparatory to a
final rush. Away to the right flank Captain
Cowan, with seventy men of the Bechu-
analand Rifles, was disposed to intercept
reinforcements or the enemy's retreat. The
armored train, under Captain Williams,
with machine gun and Hotchkiss, ran UP
as fast the broken state of the line
would allow. The whole Of the right flank
was commanded by Major Cooley; to the
left of us and west were the enemy. The
guns under Major Panzera were escorted
by a squadron under Lord Charles Ben
timex. The whole, commanded by Colonel
Hore. were delivering a rapid fire.
Just before the sun arose the armored
train sounded her whistle. 1t was the sig
nal from Captain Vernon that he was
ready to rush the position and to the guns
to cease firing. AS the sun rose we could
see the khaki clad troopers of the Pro-
tectorate regiment rushing eagerly for
ward, hardly stopping to fire, waving their
hats and cheering each other on. 1t seemed
scarcely seconds before they plunged into
the scrub which surrounded the sandbag
fort, and some one exclaimed: They are
swarming over the bags; the position is
ours
meanwhile the firing was continuing
furiously and we waited for it to cease, ex-
pecting that the enemy would surrender or
be bayoneted to man. Then there was an
anxious lull. A staff officer said: Our men
are coming back 1t was only too true
Slowly, sullen and suIky, the men fell back,
tuOSe ludt were ieIt Oh tHeu turning 10 0re
in desperate defiance now and again at the
enemys works.
IAN aid-de-camp came galloping up from
Major Cooley. Captain Vernon, sir. has
been repulsed, he said. The position is
practically impregnable to infantry. and
Major Cooley does not think IL worth
while trying again. For a moment the
colonel hesitated, and We could see that the
question as to whether or not he should
again attempt to carry the enemy's posi-
ton was being weighed in his mind. Then
he turned round to the c. S. o. and said:
Let the ambulance go out
THAT was ALL The battle of Game Tree
was over. How daring, how desperate,
how gallant the attack had been wa were
only TO learn later on, when the tale of
dead and wounded came to be told. Out
of the six officers who led their men so
well three were dead. one wounded. and
only two returned unhurt, one of the two
with his sword hilt bent by bullet. OF
the eighty men who formed the storming
party twenty-one were killed and four have
since died from their wounds. Twenty
eight lie to-day in Observation-Disclosures out
of eighty.
'In the evening we gathered In the ceme-
terry to bury the dead. A long trench was
dug for the noncommissioned officers and
men, and there, because neither time nor
material permitted, they were buried with
out collins, wrapped in white calico. We
had done our best to break the Gordon
which surrounded and raise the siege to
communications with the north and we
had failed"