Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1900-05-16
GALLANT AND GENTLE DEED.
Nainr Eabtie Won Victoria Cross by
Succorinr wounded nder Fire.

Frederick Tr..vrs il The Eritish Medical Journal
The. battle of ColenSo was fought on De
.,rnb,r IL. on the morning of brilliant
summers day. Al dawn the men had
marched ont eagerly and in keen spirits
and with swing of the shoulders whlch
old Of certain victory. Before shutdown
hey Were beaten back more than Luz"
lead and wounded ~cre lying on the hcld,
he hospital tents were filled 1" overflow
rlc and the wagons which were prepared to
move forward were moving back
The gallant attempts made to save the
guns led only to further loss of life. Col
Long had been shot down. some fifty horses
had been sacrificed. AMI the scanty ranks
ri the English were thinning rapidly. sun
Jh. cry went up. Hold fast to the guns.
and when the last fnrlOrn hope had been at
tempted and had failed. the green weld was
Uttered with the wounded, the dying ana
The dead. Near by the guns was d"nsa,
and into this many Of the wounded had
crawlcd. The gall0per who took up the
news of the disaster reported the need OF
help for the injured. To this call Major
Babtie al once responded as Voiuhttti
His duty did not take him to the battle
field He rode down to this inferno. He
might as well have ridden before d row OF
targets during the smartest moment OF rlile
practice Three times was his horse shot
under him before ne reached the donga-
Here in the face of calling fire he drag
god the wounded into shelter. and little
later he ventured out under rain OF lead
IL bring III Lieut.. ttpDtilS- WHO "dS ~ ms
In the open. desperately wounded.
For some seven hours Babtie kept by the
wounded in the shallow donga, no one dar-
ing To lift "A head above the edge of the
dip He alone had a water bottle, ana he
duled out what water he had in a sixty
minim measuring glass. lie was also able
To relieve pain by morphine. and when not
otherwise occupied ne sheltered poor Rob
erts' face from the Scorching sun by hold
ing above il a letter he CHANGED TO have IN
his pocket. 1t was not until darkness was
setting in that il possible to venture
from the sclant shelter the donga provided.
The scene OF this heroic act was level
stretch Of green weld lying between the
river and brown road which led with
many dcsultory turns to Hlangwani. 10
the left We're the village and gardens OF
colrnSo. and to the right the grove of MI
rnossl trees. in which The Buer force was
hidden Beyond the river rose the enemy :;
intronchments and The grim ridge of Grob-
ler's klouf
The last time l passed over this spot was
on the day after our cavalry had reached
Iadysmith. IL WAS on a day OF peace. The
sky was cloudless, and no breath If air
stirred the grass. The bodies of the horses
belonging to the lost guns We're lying in Il
long line across the weld. Their bones wert
rs white as are the bones Of museum skele-
tons for the yultures and the ants had
done their work thoroughly. The hides were
stiIl drawn over the bleaching bones. and
round he uecks Of these Inflated beast
were sun the collars ana the harness oy
which they had dragged tho guns into ac-
tion. There was an absolute Stiffness over
the wLule scene. To the lef: train was
being siluuted at tnicC.so station with lois
nrClN persistence tor the day hot and
the S;fl Gazing To the right Were 'he
mmpsa groves. glorious with yellow bi.s-
SONS. in tia shadow al which ,he Beers iiaG
hidden.
II was strange iha. I: waa tlsu, Ties.