Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1900-05-28

to mask the clever coRtrivanee OF the
enemy. Thus all the wagons except
nine passed into the hands OF the enc
my Then came the artillery and bat
terry column, L battery leading, with
f, Roberts horse moving parallel 10 their
left Just as the leading battery was
arriving the first shot was fired and the
presence of the enemy disclosed.
Report has II that Sergeant Green of
| the army service corps was the first
man TO fire. Called upon to surrender,
he threw his revolver loose as if to ten
, der it TO the Boer at the horses head,
and then shot him dead. He was him
! self shot a moment later. This Incl
| dent, if true. must have taken place
| Just as L battery came level with the
| drift, for the gunners' first knowledge
: of the real state of affairs was when
, armed Beers stood up all round them,
shouting: You are prisoners, You
must surrender The drivers were
/ ordered to dismount and leave their
teams. The men had no alternative
but to obey. Major Taylor, command
ing L battery. with great presence of
mind was able TO slip away, seize
loose horse and inform the officer COM
handing Q battery of what had occur
red.
At that moment Roberts horse rode
up to the drift. An old Dutchman
stood up and waved them to move off
down into the drift, and there to sur
render their arms. Major Dawson
grasped the situation in a moment.
Standing up in his stirrups, he shout
ed: "Fours about. Gallopv' The files
swung round. The drivers of Q bat
terry whipped ro--nd their teams. There
was a temporary pause, and then the
storm burst. The enemy saw that
nothing further was to be gained but
by violence. Every bush on the donga
bed, every foot OF the railway en-
bankment, every yard of the kopjes
above the drift spouted Mauser fire.
The drift became pandemonium- The
captured gun teams stampeded hope
lessly, mingling with loose mules,
spans and dismounted Beers, while
four guns of Q and one of U Numbered
back 1000 yards to the tin buildings,
destined some day to he Koorn Drift
station. Roberts horse went with
them, n wild. broken mass, taking
magazine fire in the back. The tin
walls were no cover from the fire
which now swept the fiat, but they
marked n term 10 the stampede. "Ac- |
ton rearr' came the clear. calm order. |
The mad pace checked, the guns seem |
ed to divide automatically from the lin |
bers. The teams and wagons disap- |
peared behind the station buildings |
and with shrapnel at LOO yards ''the |
epoch of our defense began"
1t had taken one minute to cross that |
/, 100 yards. That minute had sown |
the. veldt with little mounds, which, |
if some had not still been moving,
might have been ant heaps. Riderless
horses and dismounted men were still
loose upon the open. But the battery
what was left of twas in action.
Roberts horse was supporting. The
supreme moment had come, the force
had rallied and Broadwood was equal
TO the occasion. One misjudged order,
one mistaken gesture, and all would
have been lost. But no mis-
take was made. The Household cav
airy and the Tenth were sent to clear
the nullah from the flank. Riming-
tons scouts and the mounted infantry
were each directed to positions. The
force was to break out from its left
rear IN retirement to rising ground,
which, if reached, would be defensi-
BILE
The discipline of British gunners I'M
Ter fire has often claimed the admira-
ton of the world. The fighting of Q
is another instance of how de-
guns can be served to save
he situation for all arms. Surrounded
~ a semicircle of marksmen, the gun
RI |
nan, horse after horse, dropped, until
Zach unit was surrounded by little
mound of slain. Three men We're load
ng, laying and firing a gun-then two I
md then single MANN one case, an
Dfficer alone. But the end was gained.
When the order came for the guns to
etire, ten men and one officer alone
upon their feet, and they
we're not all unwounded. The teams
we're as shattered as the gun groups.
solitary drivers brought up teams of
our. In one case a solitary pair of
vheelers was all that could be found
o take piece away. The last gun
vas dragged away by hand until n
cam could be patched up from the
orses that remained. AS the mutilated
emnant of two batteries of horse ar
illery tottered through the line of
rome mounted infantry covering it's
the men could not restrain
heir admiration. Though it was to
curt death to show a hand, men leap
d to their feet and cheered the gun
ers as they passed. Seven guns and
baggage train were lost, but the
restige and honor of the country were
ayed