The daily chieftain. [volume] (Vinita, Ind. Ter. [Okla.]) 1898-1902, 1900-03-07
A WOUNDED OFFICERS STORY.
Tale OF Intense suffering on the
Battle Field of ElRndslaagte,
south Africa

A wounded officer sends long letter
to his mother from Pietermaritzburg
hospital describing his experiences at
the battle Of Elapdslaagte. 1T was"
he says, "a splendid feat Of arms, and
am most awfully proud Of my regi-
mept, for we bore the hrunt Of the day.
We had a tremendous hard time Of il,
and were under fire Tor 2h hours (con-
siderably longer than any other corps)
But the Cost was awful We had only
ten officers IN action, and five of them
were wounded; and Of 329 men we had
II killed and 33 wounded; two have
since died or THEN wounds. Tue Cor
Gons lost even more severely. The rea-
sons for this were, in my opinion, as
follows: First, theic dark kits we're
much more visible than our khalSis, and
consequently 1ormed a better target;
second, there were more OF abem. The
Gordons all say that Dargai was the
merest child's play compared to this.
"To return to my own doings I lay
where l fell for about ibree-q darters
OF an hour, when a doctor came and put |
a field dressing on my wound, gave me
some brandy, put my helmet under my
head as pillow, covered ne with q
Boer blanket which he had taken from
a dead man and then went to lock after
some other poor beggar. ] shall never
forget the horrors Of that night as long
as | live. In addition to the agony
which my wound gave me l had two
sharp stones running into my bach. I
was soaked to the skin and bitterly cold,
but had an awful thirst; tho torrents
Of rain neveg stopped. On one side Of
me was o Gordon highlander In raving
oslirium and on che oYber Boer who
had had his leg shattered by shell, and
who gave ventto the most heartrending
cries and groans. War is fanny game,
mother, and no one can realize what its
grim horrors are like till they see it in
all its barbarous reality.
II lay in the rain the whole of the
night, and at daybreak was put into
doo]ie by a doctor, and some natives car
ried me down TO tbe station. The
ground was awfully rough, anG they :
dropped me twice; tainted ooth times.
was sent down to l,adysmtth INF the
hospital train; from the station I was
to the chapel (officer's hospi-
.aD in bullock cart, the ioltiug of
which made me faint again. ] was the
ast officer taken ia. / was theu put
20 bed, and my wound was dressed Just
u hours after I wos hit. They then '
yaye me beer tea, which was the first
'ood ] had had for r hours. Tue doc
ors all said at first shat J had been
lit by a shell, but Chat is iirpussible. !
or tie enemy Only had two gIos, and
We had taken them both when was
lit. So the doctors COW say that it
must have been a very heavy explosive q
'nllet, and, as an elephant gum was
ouud close to where was nit, ] ex- !,
,ect they are right. II has made big,
aggeG hole in my shoulder. which you L
ould put yonr haod into. 1t has blown a
ONE of the muscles away, SO / am a
fraid ] shall always be bit stiff They
ay ii will take another teu weeks be- p
ore | am fit for duty, and az, very a
duch afraid that most Of the fighting ,,
yill be over by that time, in spite Of the
resent critical condition Of affairs."- g
birmingham (England) Post. p