The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1901-05-04

during most or the hard 1ght1ng which
| the gallant corps saw in South Africa.
| The major, like many other famous
| soldiers, Is not of commanding figure,
being not over feet inches in height
| and is of quiet and unassuming man
| ncr. which one would hardly expect to
| find In a man of such pluck and daring.
| He comes of n Fenian family In West
| port. county Mayo. and drank in dis
| loyalty to England with his mothers
| milk.
The Jameson raid made him scent
| the coming struggle from afar, and
| he went to South Africa Immediately
after the news of that enterprise. fully
| determined to take service with the
| Beers on the outbreak OF hostilities.
He held a good position in one of the
Johannesburg mining companies at the
time of Krugers ultimatum and i'm
| mediately called n meeting of irish
men to organize for the defense OF the
| republic whose liberties were threat
ened. But for him. in fact. there
would have been no Irish brigade in
| the army of the Transvaal. and he
| would have been given the command
| of It at the start If he had been will
| ing to accept 1t. Not having any mill
| ferred to take n subordinate position
and to let a man of military training
take the leadership.
FIRST TO CROSS.
The brigade was among the first to
cross the border into Natal. and was
in all the hard fighting around Dun
dee and up to Ladysmith. which
marked the opening of the campaign.
During the siege of Ladysmith they
formed the guard of guns. under Cen
cral Trickhard. the Boer chief of ar
tillery This was "A particularly ardu-
Gus service. requiring men of nerve,
dauntlcss courage and sleepless vigil
lance. The boys of the brigade had
to be ever on the alert for an English
sortie, and We're never caught nap
ping. But the work was too monoton.
Gus for the enterprising lrishmcn, and
squads of them We're constantly petit
tioning for leave to have a scrap with
the British. so it became the custom
to allow a hundred or more of them
to so down the. Tugea. when fightinS
was going on. and in this way Major
Mcbride and strong party Of his
men were at the famous battle of Col
enso, where Buffers army or over sc. 900
men were routed by II force Of less than
1000 Beers. cnSconced behind the
kopjes on the northern bank OF the
Tugcla.
The men of the Irish brigade won
immortal fame that day by dash on
horseback over Il portion OF the river
bank exposed to the fire of the British
artillery. to seize a kopJe which en-
abled them to rake the retreating and
demoralized English in the flank with
q. murderous rifle fire. It was from
here that the British artillery horses
were shot down. and Mcbride was
among the first to cross the river on
horseback. and had the satisfaction of
personally making IA prisoner of Col
onel Bullock. the commander of the
English artillery. Eleven guns. one Of
them being disabled were captured by
the Beers.
HAD a PROMINENT PART.
In all the fighting which followed the
Irish bore a prominent part, and after
the surrender of CrOnje at Paardberg
the brigade was sent by it's own wish
down into the Free state to help stem
the advancing tide of invasion. From
kroonStad to Johannesburg and Pre-
toria, and thence with Botha in all the
fierce battles which followed the fall of
the Boer capital they took Il prominent
part. They We're always the rear guard
and the last to exchange shots with the
English. They destroyed the railroads
and bridges as they rctreated with
their face to the foe. and it was to
their stubborn valor that Botha owed
his ability to escape northWard to re-
organize his shattered forces ana re-
commence the war on the new gucr-
rilla basis
The new state of things made men
without horses useless to the Beers,
and all but fifteen of the horses of the
Irish brigade had been either shot,
worn out, starved to death or killed
by exhaustion, and they were finally
Corraled up against the Portuguese
frontier near koomatiport with a few
hundred others. with 10000 British UNI
der French in their front and on their
1anks ana 5000 Portuguese in their
rear across the border. Here they
made ii bold bluff, which deceived
French as to their numbers, and they
held the British force for three days
and thus gave Botha ii chance to re-
treat north with the remnant of his
army Then they burned their stores
and crossed into the Delagoa bay ter
ritory and thence to France.
This was how the Irish brigade in the
TranSvaal army ceased to exist, the
major says, and this is why he is In
this country The object of his lectures
is to teach Irishmen the true lesson
of the Boer war and to warn them to
prepare for a final day of reckoning
with England, which he claims is COM
ing in the near future through great
European war which will smash the
British empire.
The forty men who went from this
country to join his brigade We're val
liant fighters. Major Mcbride says
He could have secured thousands OF
recruits from among the lrishmen
taken prisoners by the Beers in their
victories over the British but Kruger
would not permit of it, not because he
doubted them, but because he feared
it would tend to offend the English
Liberals from whom he was expecting
so much