The Camden chronicle. (Camden, Tenn.) 1890-current, 1903-01-09

naby, you may recall received a spear
thrust IN the throat Gen. stewart
himself had q narrow escape. his horse
being slain under him.
Meanwhile one Of the nercest and
boodiest hand-to-hand fights In the
annals Of warfare was In progress all
along the line Every man. handl-
capped from the first by exhaustion
through be was knew that not only
his own existence, but the lives of the
entire command, depended upon the
square being kept intact Tommies
and tars fought like demons, and for
the first time / understood how the
| expression TO swear like a trooper
probably had its origin, for while they
| fought they swore continuously and
horribly, and the curses of the wound
ed would in any other circumstances
/ have been frightful to hear. What
they were up against, as you Ameri-
cans say will be better understood
| when / tell you that those gigantic
and absolutely fearless blacks hurled
| themselves upon the bayonets and de-
| liberately impaled themselves in order
to reach and enable other warriors
behind them to attain, with their
spears and long swords the men hold
ing the square.
"All this took place in a few min
utes. Then the gatlings and other
guns got to work and the black mass
withered away in their fire and the
leaden hail from the rifles.
The result is matter of history. Our
casualties were nine officers and SIS
non-commissioned officers and men
killed and IS wounded. The tribes
men left about 1000 killed and wound
ed on the field.
1T was then that the incident re-
called by the lone Filipino with his
bolo occurred. Nearly an hour after
it was all over and the black host had
vanished, the men not engaged in at
tending to the wounded and the ami
mails were drawn up awaiting orders.
They were in loose lines, propping
themselves on their rifles and discuss
ing the battle. A thousand yards away
a superb Fuzzy-Wuzzy rose amid the
hillocks of slain and looked wildly
upon the scene Of carnage about him
He was of uncommon stature and
proportions, even for these big ath-
letic men of the desert, and evidently
a chief. His actions attracted imme-
date attention. He gazed at the thin
grim ranks of the Conquerors from the
north who were blazing the way fol-
the advance Of civilization into the
wild Businesses of his ancestors;
scanned the horizon on every side il
vain for trace of the Mahdi's mighty
and reputed invincible cohorts; looked
once more upon the bodies heaped anC
strewn around him, then picked up {
shield and spear, and with a scream o
defiance and despair charged upon tn,
army at full speed
THE Tommies who had supposed
, he was wounded as he doubtless was
unless he had been simply stunned b.
a bullet--were astonished beyond meas
; uTe. Not quite knowing whether t
+ take him seriously they we're reluctan
to kill him. Besides, perhaps they fel
= a little sympathetic admiration 70
> him. But the warrior was out 70
! blood and evidently not disposed t
q listen to argument. His poised spea
meant death to some one, and ami
o cries of Don't shoot; 1T i'm a tos
! with the butt!' Look out; 'e's as ma
a as a March hare!' and Give it to tn
1 poor beggar; 1t can't be helped doz
Y en- men raised their rifles, there was
: cracking fire, and the warrior pitche
!, forward and lay about 100 yards frol
! the detachment of guards.
"That night, while soldiers and sal
ors, exhausted as men rarely are, wei
: dreaming the battle over again, or {
: those they had left behind in I'll
: peaceful towns and villages of Englan
l lay slepless from nervous excitemen
= watching the sentries silhouetted
the violet night and the great brigl
: stars that twinkled seemingly so nei
to earth as to be almost within reac
!. The vision Of that solitary warrio
- such was the impression he made upC
. me, required with depressing persis
- ence, and, though I have seen mar
terrible scenes of suffering and her
ism in war, as it frequently has dol
since, and probably will continue to {
= when l am alone with my thought
= until at my last bivouac I fall into Il
= slumber that knows no dreaming"
- New York Tribune.
ID