The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1900-05-08
NOT SO BAD as PAINTED
AN ENGLISH OFFICER SAYS KIND
WORDS FOR THE BOERs. )
He Shows hat the Charges Of Treach-
cry ON the Battlefield Are Not
Borne Out by the Facts.
orresnondenoe of the Associated Press

correspondence OF the Associated Press.
LONDON. April 2S.-To-Day prints an
from its caustic British military
correspondent. in South Africa. be-
lifting the charges of treachery made
against the Beers. Ever since the wal
commenced he says. there has been a
series of allegations Of cruelty. perfidy. the
of the customs of civilized war on
the part of the Beers. Not only does my
in life as a subject and a servant
of her Majesty naturally inspire me to side
with the popular view against the enemies
OF my country. but my previous service in
South Africa would scarcely warrant my
being more partial to the Beers than TO
own countrymen. We soldiers, how
ever, by years of training, have learned to
keep our heads cool and our eyes clear in
what are. to the rest of the world, moments
of excitement. AS we have nothing 10 gain
by exaggeration and no public to cater for,
our words should have more weight than
those of civilian writer's, who see war for
the first time, those who never see 1t al
close quarters and those who receive all
but the barest official information from
the Tommies, who either exaggerate for
playfulness or who are not accustomed to
weigh their words carefully.
II have nothing to gain one way or the
other, and so l may tell che plain unvar-
nished truth which is as likely to be as un-
popular on this subject as on all others. 1t
is not my wish to morally whitewash the
Boer with mere words of praise. but / think
/ am In a position to account for a good
many things in a way which, when 1 nave
given scientific reasons, may satisfy my
readers. The first of these breaches of the
customs of war occurred, or was supposed
to a occurred, at the battle of Glencoe.
the first struggle of the war. The allega-
ton was that when Talan Hill was cap
tured by the Dublin Fusiliers and the
Rifles, the Beers retired carrying white
flags over their shoulders and thus saved
themselves from destruction from our guns.
I have made careful inquiries from officers
senior o~ficers-who were present and
whom / know to be cool soldiers likely to
observe correctly. One of these assures me.
and the others tell a similar story, that he
was one of the first TO reach the top of the
hill and was well placed for observation.
He found the bulk of the Boer army I'm full
retreat at a distance of about 1900 yards.
but a similar number of men, who had
been left to hold the hill to the last and
cover the retreat were much closer, and
also In full retreat. They had left behind
them in their hurried flight a field hospital,
and to this rode a Boer coming from the
main body n holding a white flag. He
carried a letter to the English general,
asking for an armistice to enable them to
Nc doubt the stage of the fight at which
such a request could be granted had NOT
yet arrived, but by no stretch Of prejudice
could 1t be termed treacherous. or a misuse
of the white flag; nor should 1t in any way
have prevented our guns. firing on the re-
treating army. That they did not fire is
true, but that was due to no false view of
humanity on the part of the officer in COM
mand. 1t is, i am assured, that no other
flag was raised, and that it was practically
impossible for one to be put up unnoticed
by them.
sit was repeatedly stated after the battle
of Colenso that the Boer artillery had
fired on our ambulances, and that one of
them had been overturned by a shell. II
is undoubtedly true that a number of shells
went close to the ambulances and / believe
that one was really struck, but there is
no reason to believe that they were de-
Hberately aimed at. / had myself occasion
to 60 to the ambulances during the fight
and found them placed directly In front
of a hill On which was a naval gun; the
field batteries who were at that time In
action a short distance In advance, so that
the ambulances were between the two and
not very far from either. Is 1t reasonable
~tttk tA0 ~ AtA& NOaia
submit without replying to our shell fire
because We chose to select so improper a
place for the wounded? They certainly
could not have fired at the guns without
many shots falling very close to the am
balances. 1t was heard since-but / cam
not vouch for its a-ccuracy-that the posi-
ton In front of the naval gun was selected
by a Stah officer, contrary to the opinion
of the medical officer in charge. After the
Irish brigade had been ordered to retire,
the ambulances advanced over the ground
on which 1t had been fought, and was
covered with dead and wounded men. A
considerable body of men had, however,
not heard the order TO retire, and fighting
doggedly on, held the ground for three
hours after the general retirement, in spite
of being nearly surrounded by the Beers.
The ambulances came quite close TO these
men and again received some of the fire
meant for others. The Beers protested
angrily at the time to some of the officers
firing being kept up when the ambulances
were on the field. and the wounded were
being killed. The brave men who had
stubbornly resisted had nothing to do with
the ~ambulances, and were not even aware
that they had come up behind them, so
that on this occasion 1t was impossible to
blame either side. I may add that this was
the only foundation for the statement
which once appeared that men of an Irish
regiment had taken refuge behind an am
bulance." Another incident is related by
the correspondent. who closes thus: The
charges of ~treachery have been so gener-
ally made in regard to SO many incidents
III different parts of South Africa that ]
cannot pretend to deal with more than q
few; but If all those who have come under
my personal observation, or about which ]
have been able to inquire from trustworthy
people who were present, turn out to be
entirely false or grossly misrepresented. II
becomes unlikely that all or many of the