Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1900-03-12
THE HORRORS OF WAR
Depicted in Private Letter From
Young Medical Officer.
BE WAS PRESENT At SPI0N KQP
Wounded and Dying Men Showed
the Greatest Fortitude.
DESCRIPTION OF WOUNDS


vate letter Of a young medical officer at
Spion Kop, printed In the Daily Graphic,
can scarcely be beaten. Il selected pass"
he writes, "oveTthung by steep clay banks,
on the top of which got up a Red Cross
flag. Cases now began to pour down from
Spion kop on stretchers. The Beers opened
fire on us. and three bullets went into the
fire, knocking the sticks about. The reason
for this fire was not the Red Cross flag. but
owing to some "rommies.' who were stroll
ing over to it. either to take cover there or
to see what we were doing. promptly or
dered them away. A few minutes after the
Beers let fire five shells in quick succession
in my direction, but they fell short and did
no harm. This sort of thing went on round
me for the rest of the day. but 1 always
kept well in the shelter of the bank.
From this time to 10 O clock next morn
ing the wounded came through my dressing
station, as the pass was the only exit from
the hill. l saw every case, and some Of
them were mutilated beyond description.
The Casualties Were Heavy.
Fully $50 wounded and dead, whit had
died on the way, passed through my hands.
The cheerfulness OF the wounded struck me
as remarkable-men with shattered wounds
smoking their pipes, and although starving,
not grumble did 1 hear. Many a poor
trenches. who could not be reached, lay In
the blazing sun all day. One old colonial
in Thornycrofts. with a gray beard, walked
down, leaning on his rife; he was mass
of wounds-one ear cut through by a bull
let. his chin, neck and chest also shot
through by others, and his back and legs
torn by shell. He came in and said he
just dropped in to let me take his finger
Off, as it was so shattered he could not pull
the trigger of his rife, as it got in the way
OF the next finger which he could use, for
he wanted to get back up the hill to lay
the Dutchmen out. OF course 1 would not
beautifully Clean just little round hole.
and as rule do not do much damage, as
they often go through the bone without
SCATTERING it, and they don't bleed much.
The shell wounds are hideous.
TT was frightfully dark. and I put one
or the lanterns on stick as directing
light to my pass: one of group Of soldiers
returning to the hill tried to run away with
1t, and | would have lost it, only I snatched
up rife from a wounded man and shouted
that would shoot him If he did not bring
1t back. He dropped it and ran away, and
1t went out: but l got it again. Shortly
a pretty bad time, as the pass often got
blocked with wounded. Finally I could
send no more wounded across the drift, and
had to stack them with the dead in rows
on the grass. L collected all the wounded
officers on stretchers around me and gave
them brandy and hyperdermic Of NOR
phia.
Seen In the Morning Light.
THE morning light began to dawn about
4:8O o'clock, and lighted up the CHASTITY
faces of the patients around me. My men
now got a fire ready and got some beef tea
and coffee, and had some myself, the first
meal since my dinner the day before, and
after giving the wounded some as we'll, l
sent them on the ambulances across the
drift
Commandments Botha and Burgess. who
were the Boer generals, now came on the
scene. The former. who was the chief gen.
eral, was smaliish, thin man, with yell
lowish beard and hair, and had magnifi-
cent rifle, beautifully carved with his name
and a text from the Bible. He had couple
of mounted kaffirs, carrying his ammuni-
ton and water bottle, and an Interpreter.
He seemed, however, to understand En-
glish, though he refused to speak it, but
now and then said Certainly, certainly
There We're quite number of German Off
GERS. l heard one OF them had been killed.
They let our men search the dead for their
identification cards, letters and money. 1t
was very sad to see the things we found in
their pockets-love letters. Christmas cards,
little pocket books, with accounts; half
finished letters. Several of the Beers hand
ed in little things they FONDA check for
10 shillings, purse with money etc. Some
Of the officers had trinkets around their
necks. One poor chap had locket, with
spray of white heather, and we had to cut
his name off his shirt and pin 1t to the
iocket as a means Of identification. 1 am
gers cut off to get their rings. but the
Beers said that they did not see who did it,
and Were indignant.
Men suffer SunstrOke.
Men seized with sunstroke. writhing and
gasping for water were lying every fifty
yards or So This is not a description of
a battlefield, but merely the account Of the
very ordinary practice march made by Gen.
Macdonald's hardy Highland Brigade to
Koodoosberk on February B, writes the cor
respondent of the Standard, as the brigade
had marched only ten miles when the men
thus began to suffer. 1t is only from vivid
descriptions such as which comes by mail
that the climatic conditions Of the veldt
can be thoroughly realized The correspon-
dent goes on to say:
Fortunately the river being close by
water was procurable. and the men all got
into camp at the drift by o'clock. Only
few OF the cases turned out to be really
serious. Two men were lost altogether, one
of whom was found two days later by q
patrol of Lancers. He was In raving con-
dition and died shortly after being brought
iEto camp"
The lessons learned from these things are
interesting.
The march clearly showed" says the
writer. 1.-The danger Of taking infantry for
out a proper water supply-it practically
decides that the route to Pretoria must be
either along a railway or along the rivers
Another thing clearly manifested was the
unsuitability of the heavy equipment Of the
men for a campaign in South Africa. Each
man was carrying i50 rounds Of ammuni-
ton in pouches hung on his stomach, and
attached with an arrangement of straps
which closely resembles the ordinary mule
harness used here. Hung on his back was
a heavy overcoat, which since the march
from Orange river began, has. SO far as I
have observed. never been used once.
Then there Is the water bottle, canteen,
rifle and other necessary articles, alto
gether with uniform making up a burden
of about sixty pounds. The kilt is quite
unsuitable for such a march. Thorns
caught the kits and tore the bare legs of
the Highlanders in the most cruel man
ner."
Mr.. Battersby's Experience.
H. F. Provost Battersby. writing from
Orange river to the Morning Post, gives a
still clearer idea of what 1t is to soldier on
the veldt His dispatch, dated February S,
is in part follows:
THE sun feels like a heated iron held
close to the skin; one cannot hold a piece
of wood which has been lying in it, The
deep. hot. red sand makes intolerable the