The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1900-07-29
WEDDINGS ON BATTLEFIELDs.
Some Have Taken Place in the Midst
of Conflict.


One of the most notable features in
connection with the siege of Kimberley Is
the callous way in which the inhabitants
treated the Boer bombardment, even lind
ing time to celebrate three weddings dur
ing the progress of hostilities.
However unique this may seem, refer
eBce to past campaigns will reveal other
cases of similar nature. Even after the
slaughter of Waterloo two weddings came
off in the field, one being especially pa
thetic in detail. A young officer in we'll
known cavalry regiment sent direct from
England was ordered to leave home few
days before he was to have been married,
and his faneee, disappointed and anxious
at the turn things had taken, decided to
follow him, despite his protests- This she
did unknown to her lover, and was in the
neighborhood when the great battle was
fought.
After the victory she failed to gain any
news of him, so, thinking ne must have
fallen, employed a peasant, and together
they searched the field before the work Of
rescuing the wounded was begun After
some hours she came upon him lying half
buried beneath a bloody heap Of his own
comrades and dead horses in that part of
the field where the conflict had ragged
fiercest. He was not dead. and al his re-
quest she sent the peasant for q priest.
where he lay. only to be SEPARATED 2 little
later by death. rff
A burly guardsman furnished the next
case in point, which was happier one. for
beyond a wound in the right arm the br de-
groom was in excellent health and sp rits.
The marriage was celebrated at daybfeak
on the morning after the battle, and was
conducted by the priest who had monent
before been reading mass over the slain
trrtrs fsza tad in, IN
trenches before Sebastopol during the
dreary winter of 1854 was broken by wed
ding celebrated in actual battle, the desul-
tory firing from the city forts and the cor
responding booming of our guns taking the
place of the Wedding March" The bride
was connected with the nursing depart
ment, and had for some time previously
been under Miss Florence Nightingale until
sent nearer the scene OF hostilities. where
she met and fell in love with corporal in
one of the regiments OF foot. Furthermore,
one of the first functions held in Ssb4stopol
after its fall by our troops was a wedding
ceremony between a young lieutenant and
a Russian girl OF noble birth, who had some
time prior to the event turned against her
country and come over to the British camp.
She returned to England with her hu b1nd.
who eventually became a soldier of some
repute.
Germans in the war of 1870 no fewer than
forty-two weddings were solemnized in the
city even while the enemy's shells were
falling in the streets. All of these were
safely carried out despite the perilous sur
roundings with the exception OF one, and
in this case a she'll fell near the happy
couple on their way home from the church,
killing the bridegroom among number OF
others. In another instance a shell struck
the church while the ceremony was in
progress. bringing down a portion Of the
tower, but fortunately no one was injured.
Nursing sisters have frequently been
welded to their soldier lovers scarcely be-
fore the echoes of battle have died away
After the taking of Cabul in 1879 and the
entry of our troops into the city mosque
was utilized for this purpose, the service,
of course, being performed according TO
the rites OF the English Church The
bridegroom was a young lieutenant, WAC
had but just recovered from a wound re-
ceived in one of the earlier engagements
During the time he was in the hospital he
had fallen in love with the lady who nursed
him and, finding his affections were recip-
rocated took the first opportunity of Lead
ing her to the hymeneal altar. Many of
the officers were present. the remainder of
the building being packed with the hum
bier members of the victorious army and
after the ceremony regimental band ac-
companiad the couple through the city to
the lively strains of the Wedding March"
Although such marriages have naturally
been rather hasty affairs and without the
parental permission of the parties con-
cerned. it is astonishing how few have
proved unhappy.