The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1914-09-04
Ninth Lancers Rode Into
the Jaws of Death, Into
the Mouth of He'll"
MANY LOST IN EFFORT
TO WRECK GERMAN GUNS
kitchener's Army Behaving
With Great Courage
Laugh at Danger.
BY j. NJ. JEFFRIEs,


by }. VI. JEFFRIEs,
sssessi correspondent Of Tut srs and n,
London "Ddiiv Mat"
Special cable Despatch 10 THE SrN
From a point behind the British
troops. August 80 Sunday evening".
am not allowed to mention the place
from which I am writing but | have
come In contact with the British troops.
Thousands Of them have Just passed me,
All from the front There was one con-
tinsent of wounded among them.
The faces Of the men are all red with
the sun, their tunics are open at the
throats, they are covered with thick
dust. and for all the losses they recently
have sustained they take the war
lightly. looking around them with
good natured laugh and waving greet
ing to the townspeople. who look upon
them as saviors and friends.
There IL difficulty in getting a con-
nected account Of the operations from
the soldiers, and II one could do SO IL
would be injudicious to publish il. But
the campaign so far appears to have
heen a series of stubborn. disciplined.
tactical retreats tempered with some
offensive fests OF extraordinary gal
lantry.
One of these as II was recounted to
me to-day deserves TO be put beside the
most notable feats of the British army.
The Ninth l.ancers seen 10 have re-
peated under almost the identical con-
ditions the famous charge of the Light
Brigade at Balakava.
Since the beginning Of the fighting
the German artillery has been the bane
II our troops during the action at --,
which is close TO the Belgian frontier.
Terrible havoc had been caused h. our
ranks by great shells from a battery of
eleven guns inside wood. BY the
disposal Il large quantities Of forage
The guns had the appearance of small
haystacks or something Of the kind
Their first fire caused a terrible loss to
our men. who approached unsuspect-
ingly.
Like Charge at BsiRkIava.
The same guns continued their fire
for several hours. with continuous
effect. and II seemed impossible to
silence their fire when the Ninth
Lancers made their heroic attempt.
They rode straight at the guns.
debouching into the open and charging
under a hail Of melinte or lyddite from
other German guns.
] have not been able to get an ac-
curate estimate of the distance they
rode, but they reached the guns-heayy
guns almost approximating siege guns
In size--cut down all the gunners and
put the guns out of action Then, like
their prototypes at Balaklava they rode
back and on their return fell in greater
numbers still. All estimates OF the loss
must be received with caution. as SOL
diers become detached and rejoin their
regiments later. have met several
lost regiments myself to-day.
The whole forces here are speaking
OF this charge.
Another gallant deed was that of
Capt. r. O. Grenfell OF the Ninth Lancers
He was hit in both legs and had two
fingers shot off at the same time
Almost as he received these wounds a
couple OF guns posted near by were
deprived of their servers. all OF whom
save one were struck by the bursting of
shrapnel. The horses for the guns had
been placed under cover.
Wen get the guns back" cried Gren-
fell, and at that, with a number of his
men, in spite OF his wounds, he did
manage to harness the guns up and get
them away lie then was taken to
hospital.
There was a great feat OF arms too
OF Schemes east Of Cambria, on Wednes-
day last. A number OF English regi-
ments, but il is difficult to confirm
which with absolute accuracy, held an
exposed position. They were expect
Ing support all day, but the support
was delayed. The enemy crept around
them and the British, to avoid being
encrcled charged the gradually en-
closing German ring with the bayonet
The men went at 1t yelling and shout
a gap There was no more than 800
yards between the envelopng German
forces. On the gap the German artll-
lory was trained with its unfailing
regularity and the loss of all these regi-
menis was great II is generally
acknowledged that our troops have
suffered very severely indeed and that
they have behaved with great courage
Boer War Was Chiid's Play.
Men who took part in the South Affi-
ean campaign say that the hottest
firing there was childish compared with
that the troops have undergone in Bel
GUM and France,
The German trenches are lined with
machine guns. The infantry behind
cause no perturbation. Their firing is
vslucless and their ranks are too packed
for them TO use their rifles properly