The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1905-07-12
GOING INTO BATTLE.
THE SENSATIONS OF A BRAVE MAN
UNDER FIRE.

How 1t Feels When the Rain OF Bull
let's Begins Its Patter OF Death.
The Terror That Is Inspired by
Facing a Charge of Cavalry.
There is i muttered rumor il the
battery that the hills yondcr are occu-
pied by the enemy. AS we halt for q
moment on the crest of the hill sudden
~ the spattering sound OF rifle fire
snaps the stiffness Of the morning air.
The noise pulls ne up with 4 jerk. My
i half finished sentence ends abruptly.
and feel (; shock pahin me as OF u
Jug upon my heartstrings. The talk
! has ceased on the instant. y curious
silence falls upon US. broken only by
hoarsely whispered We're in it, from
:: comrade.
Ny emotions are hard to analyZe. 1t
is not exactly fear l feel, but rather
kind of uncomfortable expectancy.
dare not look my fellows in the face.
10 do so would seem, feel, like irl-
pertinent curiosity. But u furtive
! glance shows ME each man bolt up
right in his place, with features set
and hard.
The chatter Of q Maxim upon the
left swells into Gathering chorus,
the irregular rattle Of the rife fire. In
the cold gray of dawn it is chilling,
deadly sound. Then, with thunder OF
thudding hoofs, staff officer gallops
up.
"Walk-march.' The sharp command
acts like a spark that fires the stlffen-
ed frame to life "Trot," and, with
! Jingle, jingle Of accouterments, the
teams, their wicked looking guns lop-
/ ping behind them, plunge downward
to the plain. The battery is itself
again. Action quickens the sluggish
pulse, and in the excitement OF the de-
scent the ugly jabber of the Maxim
falls on deaf ears.
At the bottom Of the slope is an awk-
ward gully, through which the teams
scamper helter skelter and come up
with gallop on the level under
heavy fire. action 'front.' In trice
the guns are wheeled round and unlim-
bered.
Now for the first time I begin to be
conscious of the fire under which we
/ are acting. All around l see little
spurts Of dust kicked up from the
ground by some invisible agency, like
| gobbets Of dry sand thrown up by the
impact of colossal rainGrops. Momen'
tar!ly I hear the mellow thing Wiling,
like the deep vibrant note of ban
| los tight strung bass, Of an unseen
bullet flying past me. An uncomforta-
| bic sensation seizeS me in the pit OF
my stomach, kind Of sickness that is
hard to describe in precise terms.
Quoth Henry at Agincourt:
l~And he that hath no stomach to this fight,
Let him depart
Gladly would I depart but that
sense Of shame would keep me even
were escape possible at my post. II
needs greater courage to openly ny
than to stay.
Yet it is not physical fear that lays
hold Of me. To feel that one must
needs confront an actual, tangible zoe.
1t is rather mental terror with which
these invisible missiles Of death I'LL
me. There is no combating them.
They come from nowhere, as it seems,
and no man can say where they may
find their billet. I am helpless. I can
but stand still in my place, waiting,
! with sickening expectancy, to see
whether I shall be hit.
A gunner beside me falls. It Is sud-
den and quick. Without warning his
arms are flung wildly up into the air,
and with hideous, gurgling groan he
co!lapses. For few seconds his limbs
| Jerk convulsively, his hands tearing at
the tufts of grass and his teeth savage
" biting the dust AS suddenly the
movements cease, and the corpse lies
where it dropped. My gorge rises, and
all things sQuirm within me.
But things are not always thus. 4
man there was who described his ex-
periences Of the South African cam
paign as "a long period Of deadly mo-
notony, relieved by intervals Of blue
funk" But most men get speedily used
to the sensations Of being under IRE.
He is a callous soldier who can go IN
moved through his first ordeal OF, for
that matter, can face in contemptuous
mood the early stages of any action.
But once through his baptism OF fire
or warmed to his work, the soldier
recks little Of bullets and shells. use
Is everything.
Thus. later, when 1 have become par
ticipant in a score or more fights, I
find my early emotions gone entirely or
at least so modified as scarcely to be
worth consideration. y spirit OF fatal
ism has succeeded those aSonles OF
anxiety. 1t is impossible to dodge the
bullets I am here and the enemy's
fire is thick and hot upon me. II 1t
IS fated that am to be hit, hit shall
be. If not-tant mieux. I come to dis
regard the singing Of the bullets and
begin to have ever contempt for cov-
er. If I wish to move from one point
Of vantage to another I no longer cast
about for the seemingly safest route.
! am as likely to be hit one way as an
other, and I go straight III conse-
quence.
It happened once in South Africa
that during an action the general IN
command, walking round his disposl-
tions on tour Of inspection, came
upon gun that had temporarily been
ordered out Of action. Seated on the
trail, scorning cover, was gunner
deep in the hlushiug pages Of well
known sporting contemporary. Inc
general paused and gazed for mo-