The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1900-02-04
WINSTON
Continued from First Page.

enraged that we Immediately ran through
| the bushes to stop them when they should
| come down again They were only eight
of US.
1T was, of course, pitch dark. When
we had run short distance we heard
Halt! Who goes there?' from the sentry
of body of English who had remained
in the bushes. We fired volley in their
direction and ran as fast as we could to
a, ditch beyond US. After waiting some
minutes we again advanced among the
bushes and after having marched a half
mile we reached the creek which runs
below the hill. Here a body Of English
who had remained behind fired volleys at
US. We lay against the bank of the creek
and replied to their fire 1t became so
hot, however, that we retired around the
corner of the bank. Here Sample Van
Zyl was shot He was about q yard ahead
of me. He was struck by two bullets,
one in the throat, the other through the
lung. We are very sad today on account
Of his death, for he was the life and soul
of our camp. He did not die immediate
". We placed him against the bank and
gave him water. We were then obliged
to leave him for some Of the enemy were
behind US, whilst those who had been on
the top of the hill were in front Of US.
eve ran to the opposite side and then
an Enghshman rushed down toward me
and was going to stab me with his bayo-
net: but he was a little too high up, so
that he could not doit He said: Throw
down your gun and 1 won't shoot But
I said, Throw down yours, or I will
shoot And so I would, but he threw
down his gun. Then he fumbled with his
hands in his breast, probably to loosen
his cartridge pouch, but 1 thought he
meant to take out fevolve. My com
rades shouted out Shoot him, Reitz,
shoot him" But I had not the heart to
shoot a man at two PAGES, so 1 said,
Put up your hands or I'll shoot which
die accordingly did. I then took his gun
and shall send You the bayonet.
The English were approaching and we
could hear what they said. They were
in high spirits and they were quite IN
aware of our being IN front of them. We
waited until we could see them. They
marched in close order, about 300 in num-
her. They were then about ten yards
from us. We then fred among them.
hey stopped and all called out Rifle brig
ade. They must have supposed that we
belonged to their people. Then one OF
them said: Let US charge One officer
Captain Paley q am writing this letter
with his silver pencil case), advanced
though he nd two bullet wounds al
ready. Joubert gave him another shot
and he fell on top Of US. Four English
men got hold Of Jam Luutig and struck
him on the head with their rifles and
stabbed him in thestomac h with a bayo-
net. He seized two Of them by the
throat and shouted, Help, boys His
two nearest comrades shot two of the
nearest soldiers and the other two bolt
ed. But then the English came. up in
such numbers that we all lay down as
quiet as mive along the bank. They came
in single file, about SEQ along the foot
path. only about six yards from where
we lay. Had there been more Of US we
could have continued firing, but the Eng
fish would simply have trampled Us down.
I'VE could, of course, see them well and
overhear all they said. One of them
said: Who knows the way" Another re-
pneUr INGCP " TIC AI54Ats anu o. "N-N'
sitting a few yards to the right 1 felt
somewhat uneasy, but they just then
fortunately found. the foorpath again and
di dnot see me. Whilst they were cross !
ing the ditch one of the English wounded
cried out, Wounded mn, wounded man,
tothe right; 1 can't walk But one of
them replied: oh, you are only a Dutch
man. and another cried, GO to he'll
When the English had all passed the day
was Just breaking. We afterwards found /
twenty-five Of them killer and wounded. !
Captain Paley was still living and we |
did for him what we could, but we had |
no water and he died shortly after. The |
other wounded men constantly cried out !
for water, and We then sent one of the I
prisoners-there were five o rsix of them !
with a. white flag TO try to fetch some /
doctors. One Englishman had been /
struck by seven bullets, one by four and !
one by three. There was, I believe, no (
one who had less than two bullet wounds, /
and considering that we were only seven |
in number and only continued firing fer /
about five minutes, you can see that it /
must have been warm work Besides that .
the the British carried off a couple of
their wounded out OF the ulLCQ. All their /
guns had bayonets fixed to them. I took ,
four guns, but I gave two to the doctors /
to serve as splints for the broken legs Of
two of the wounded. Among the twenty
two wounded were Captain Paley, one
major and one corporal.
Further on the English killed three or
four with bayonets and wounded two.
Higher up the hill there lay ten dead of
the English. Where we had been chal-
enged by them also lay one. Isaac Ma
orbe has gone to Pretoria with the pris-
2ners, and If you meet him ne can tell
you all about il.
IF Hjalmad IS still in Pretoria, let him
bring us a couple Of water bottles, for we
nave already suffered once or twice from
having none. Tell Att I have received
Willie Brirs letters. and also tell him
mat he must not insist on coming to the
'front.', for 1t IS no picnic. I shall now
conclude with love TO all Affectionately
FOUR son. DENEYS REITZ."