THE MODDER RIVER.
Showing the banks with their lining of bushes, from behind which the Boers opened a murderous fire upon the British at 800 yards.
BOER ARTILLERY AT MODDER RIVER.
Nov. 28, 1899.] Sufferings of the Troops.
The two British batteries on the field pushed in upon the centre of the Boer position, and at a range of about 2,000 yards began to deliver a storm of shrapnel upon the village and the Boer trenches. The whereabouts of these had to be guessed, for there was still no sign of the enemy. The battlefield appeared empty of men—the British soldiers prostrate on the ground, the Boers artfully concealed; and few who fought through that long day in our ranks saw even a single opponent. The men fired at what they thought was the enemy's position, fired at the flash of the guns, fired at the quarter from which came the heavy hammering of the big Maxim. That, even so, they shot to some purpose was known when after the battle the shield of the Maxim was found splashed gray with British bullets.
The torture of thirst.
After the British infantrymen threw themselves down, their losses were singularly small. Fortunately the soldiers had left their great coats with the baggage, for these, being dark in colour, would have shown up against the brown surface of the veldt and the dingy hue of the khaki, and so have drawn the enemy's fire. At first some officers attempted to stand up and lead their men forward, but such attempts immediately drew a perfect storm of bullets. One brave sergeant who endeavoured to lead a rush was hit half-a-dozen times. The men suffered agonies from thirst and want of food and the intense heat of the sun. As the morning went on the heat rose to 110°, and the sun's rays scorched and blistered the bare legs of the Highlanders in the most painful manner. If a breath of wind blew to relieve them, it would ruffle their kilts and instantly draw the enemy's fire with deadly effect. The few drops of tepid muddy water in the water bottles were speedily exhausted. In their frantic eagerness to drink, men would rise, though they knew this meant certain death or wounds, and would attempt to crawl to the water carts in the rear. In this manner the Coldstreams lost many men, till it was realised that to bring the carts near the rear was a cruel and irresistible temptation. As for the wounded, they had to lie and suffer if they could not crawl back to the rear. The bearer companies displayed the utmost devotion, yet they lost so heavily that they could not show themselves within the bullet-swept zone where lay most of the wounded. Nor could ammunition be sent to the firing line; after one or two attempts the men in front had to be left entirely to their own resources.
[After a sketch by Mr. Fred Villiers