The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1900-02-18

| aged Two OF their guns On the following
| morning they came past us, but were soon
| driven back. But now comes the worst
J we were on outpost duty last night about
oOo yards from the hill on which stood
| hoWltzer Below this hill lay other OUT
posts, which either through treachery or
carelessness allowed the English to pass.
About l o'clock we heard HE English on
the top of the hill crying 'Hurrahp We
| sent word to Zeederberg, the field cornet
I but before he could arrive the howitzer
! was damaged. The English again cheer
ca, ana We were then SO enraged that we
| Immediately ran through the bushes 10
stop them when they should come down
again. There were only eight of us.
1T was, of course, pitch dark. When
| we had run a short distance we heard
| Halt! VINO goes there? from body of
English who had remained in the bushes
We fired volley in their direction and ran
| as fast as we could to ditch behind us
| After waiting some minutes we again adj
| vanced among the bushes, and, after hav-
| ing marched about mile we reached the
| creek which runs below the mill. Here
| a body of English who had remained be-
mind 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 just about a yard ahead of me-
! He was struck by two bullets-one in the
| throat, the other through the lungs. We
are very sad to-day on account of his
death, for he was the life and soul of our
camp He did not die Immediately. We
| placed him against the bank and gave
him water. We were then obliged to
leave him, for some of the English were
behind us, while those who had been on
the top of the hill were in front of US
Captured n Big Soldier.
1--WE ran to the opposite bank, and then
! an Englishman rushed down toward me,
! and was going to stab me with his bay
onet; but he was a little too high up, so
| that he could not do il. He said Throw
down your gun and L won't shoot But l
! said, "Trow down yours or shall shoot
And so I would have, but he threw his
gun down. Then he fumbled with his
hands in his breast, probably to loosen his
cartridge pouch. But 1 thought he meant
| to take out a revolver. My comrades
shouted out, Shoot him. Reitz! Shoot
| him. But l had not the heart to shoot
man at two PAGES distance, so l said,
Put up your hands, or I'll shoot which
he accordingly did. L then took his gun,
and shall send you the bayonet.
"Iu the meanwhile, the English were APP
proaching We could hear what they
said They were in high spirits, and they
were quite unaware of our being in front
of them. We waited till we could see
them They marched in close order.
about 800 in number. They We're then
about ten yards from us. We then fired
among them. They stopped and called
out, Rifle Brigade They must have sup
posed that we belonged to their people.
Then one of them said: Let us charge
zone officer, Capt. Paley q am writing
this letter with his silver pencil case). ad-
vanced, though he had two bullet wounds
- ~lasNf
and he fell on top of" us. Four English
men got hold of Jan Luttig and struck
him on the head with their rifles, and
stabbed him in the stomach with bayo-
net. He seized two of them by the throat
and shouted, Help, boys! His two near
est comrades shot two of the nearest SOL
diers and the other two bolted But then
the English came in such numbers that
we all lay down as quiet mice along
the bank They came in single file, about
S0O along the footpath, only about six
yards from where we lay. Had there been
more of us we would have continued fir
ing, but the English would simply have
trampled us down.
1--WE could of course see them well and
overhear all they said. One of them said
Who knows the way?' Another replied
Keep to the right and I was sitting a
few yards to the right, / felt somewhat
uIeasy, but they just then fortunately
luS iOOApdth oe5"iiA anu Niu AOl SCC
me.
while they were crossing the ditch
one of the English wounded cried out
Wounded man, wounded man TO the
right can't walk. But one of them re-
piled: oh, you are only Dutchman,' and
another cried: Go to hell
"W hen the English had all passed the
day was just breaking We afterward
found twenty-five of them killed and
wounded. Capt Paley was still living
and we did for him what we could bur
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 prisoners-there were five or six
OF The m-with white flag to Ladysmith
to fetch doctors.
zone Englishman had been struck by
seven bullets, one by four, and one by
three. There was, believe, not one who
had less than two bullet wounds, and con-
sdering that we were only seven in num-
Der. and only continued firing for about
FIVE minutes, you can see that IL must
have been warm work. Besides that, the
English carried off couple Of their
vounded out of the ditch. All their guns
had bsyonets fixed to them. | took four
gins. but | gave two to the doctor to
serve as splints for the broken legs OF
two of the wounded. Among the twenty