The Washburn times. [volume] (Washburn, Wis.) 1896-1976, 1900-01-17
BATTLE At MODDER RIVER
Graphic Description Of Recent
War Operations.
RECKLESS HEROISM.
Gentlemen Eccrs Go to Battle in Car.
riagcs aud Return in the
Same Way.

Graspan and Modder river, for it is yet
too early for the publication Of full ac-
counts of Buffers defeat at Colenso. The
lines correspondent at Modder river has
written graphic account Of the long,
fierce battle that takes it's name from
that stream. For the whole of the
day. he writes, "the Guards brigade lay
ON the open veldt in q heat that was ac-
tually ITO degrees in the shade at mid
day. Meanwhile the left flank had not
been idle and after the general had per-
sonally led them to the summit of a
slight rise that commanded the only pos
sible means Of crossing the river, they
moved in echelon towards the edge of the
river bank on the enemy's extreme left.
Reckless Heroism.
That it could even be attempted to
cross the river sliding sideways through
rickety iron bar, by one clinging to the
short supports in full view Of the oppo-
site shore was an act of reckless hero
ism against which even the wary Cronje
had not provided. This, however, is
what was actually done, and it would be
dlfhcult to find parallel. for the stubborn
pluck of the men who accompanied Col.
Barter across the 300 yards of dam and
weir. One by one some 400 of them
crossed, Then a detachment of the
Royal engineers showing how well they
could take their part in the forefront4 of
the fighting line, followed them, after
that some more of the Yorkshire Light
infantry. Little by little the force was
collected which cleared several of the
nearest houses on the right and effected
an occupation Of an irrigation patch
from which they were never dislodged.
To hight for thirteen hours is an ordeal
that III any kind of warfare would be a
G. fro in h11f ~
shadeiess yeldt. with the thermometer at
the degree sbove mentioned, the exhaus-
tlon suffered by our men was so great
tnat ID hundreds Of cases men and Off
GERS. alike slept as they lay in the scrub.
careless of the shell and rifle fire that
surge.d over them. TO provide them food
was impossible, to bring a water cart on
the field, as the Coldstream guards found
by bitter eXperlence-was only tempting
men to expose themselves to death. rush
ing for the water at all hazards, and leav-
ing, the cover afforded by the nine or ten
inch growth of mimosa scrub.
Brigades Act Independently.
EARLY in the afternoon the general
was shot through the thigh and for some
time the two brigades, in the absence of
orders, were compelled to act indenen-
IDENTIFY of the other, the only communica-
ton being warning to the brigade not
to ire upon the first, of which there was
some danger
The magnificent manner in which the
Beers had realized and augmented the
strength Of the position, the success with
winch they had kept their works and
disposition secret until the crucial mo-
ment, the feint on the extreme right by
which they drew off the entire artillery
strength of our force from their main
position, and the astonishing accuracy of
their picked shots at the longest ranges
should all be remembered to the credit of
their generals. But it was in the mate
rial which formed the commands that
they failed. They could not do more
than they actually did with the men I'M
der their command. Already jeaousiesg
had sprung up between the generals, the
men accused each other of cowardice.
and the threat Of physical force had, if
rumors were true, to be held. over them
more than once.
One-Pound Maxims Effective. !
'.The one-pound Maxim gun was the
most effective weapon used by the Beers
The five or six shots fired in one second
while. the gun was traversed, had more
moral effect than the steady discharge of
shrapnel of the ordinary ffteen-pounder !
at half-minute intervals. One man not
far from me had both thighs blown off as /.
he sat, by one of these little shells land 4
ing on the ground between them. but 4
lleIe ID uO uueStlOB mat the moral
was as a rule greater than the practical 4
results. No gun was more cordially dis !
liked by our men than this new weapon.
that was usually christened 'bong-bong-
bong the patent of which in 1892 was
offered to and declined by our govern
ment"
Of the lessons to be learned from Mod
der river, this correspondent says: 1T
would be impossible in any future war
for the officers to retain their swords,
and it will be worth while for the war
office to construct some light carbne that
may be carried by them instead of
weighty rifles served out to the men,
The scene after the battle is thus de-
scribed by the same writer: Most peo-
pie who have stayed at Kimberley know
of Modder river as recreation ground,
only thinking of it, in fact, much as Lon
don regards Maidenhead. Never has it
been anything but q frivolous patch in
the heart of the veldt. The punishment
for its giddiness has been sudden and
extraordinary. The place is deserted.
the walls and roofs perforated like
fouled by 10000 animals, rolls over and
over the dead that were hurriedly
thrown into its eddying hollows with =
weight attached that has in many Sos
proven insufficient. The bridge lies on
its ruined piers Il twisted length of scran
iron and the dead horses fill every nook
in the river sidewoods.
A Chapel Devastated.
'.The chapel with it's little wooded cross
near the river stood in the thick of tbs
fight and now lies a crumbling mass Of
adobe walls, with it's shattered eartbep
altar ard most Of it's seats. There is No
square rod within this extinct paradise
that does not bear witness to the fearfnI
effect of modern weapons"
The conduct of the marines of the ma
val brigade at Graspan is source of IN.
ending praise from all correspondents
The Times representative at that battle
writes:
1.-The naval brigade advanced in ex-
tended order, but in converging upon the
position to be taken they unconsciouslv
found themselves closed in, and in that
formation attempted the ascent The fire
directed upon them was terrible and, dis
tingushed by their swords, the officers
were the first to fall. Commander Eth
elstan was MORALLY wounded fifty yards
from the first slope and one by one the
rest fell as they advanced, many with
two or three bullet wounds. The slaught
err was appalling to watch. The gallan-
try displayed was useless under the pitt
less iron hail that was but slightly
checked by the redoubed Smelling Of the
1. - Il