Collapse of the Highland Brigade.
Those who have read of "heroism," of "fearlessness of death," and all the popular phrases which describe the bearing of the soldier on the field of battle, may deem the true story, which we have given above, ignominious and dishonourable to the Highland Brigade. Yet when the truth is told, such incidents happen on every battlefield, and the best and bravest men are subject to sudden collapse under the conditions that this brigade had to encounter. At dawn it is a physical fact that the intellectual force known as morale is at its feeblest. The men were hungry, drenched, cold, confused, surprised, exposed to a more than decimating fire. Death had come suddenly amongst them at an unexpected moment, with all the awful and heart-rending sights of the battlefield. On every side were dead, and dying, and wounded men—a chaos, a babel of cries dominated by the furious rattle of the Boer musketry. The inevitable happened, and the men, without leaders or guidance, went back instead of forward. There are limits to devotion and self-sacrifice.
[Photo by Horsburgh, Edinburgh.
Some particulars of his career are given beneath the equestrian portrait on page [178].
[Dec. 11, 1899.
Nor did the Black Watch fall back far. The men, in spite of the terrible shaking they had received, were speedily rallied; they lay down a thousand yards or more from the enemy's position, and opened a spasmodic fire upon the Boers. The Seaforths rallied, too, and advanced by rushes, drawing close to certain outlying Boer rifle pits. They lost heavily. Officers and men, to quote the letter of an officer who led the rushes, "were bowled over like rabbits." Some of the Black Watch, who had not retired but had advanced in spite of the Boer fire, actually reached and entered the enemy's trenches, but, unsupported, were made prisoners. In all, of that famous and gallant regiment, about one fourth fell at the first deadly volley from the Boers. In the two leading companies, 200 strong, three-fourths were shot down. A chaplain in the ranks, who was knocked down in the rush to the rear, declared that the panic was awful, but that there lived no men who would have done otherwise than they did.
Artillery support.
The two other Highland battalions, though greatly confused and involved in the sudden panic, did not suffer as severely, being further to the rear. They were likewise rallied. Things were in this posture: the attack had hopelessly failed, and the ground before the shattered Highland Brigade was strewn with killed and wounded, many of the latter destined to receive wound after wound under the cruel fire when it grew light enough to see more plainly. At once, with a crash and a roar, came a lyddite shell, aimed from the 4·7 at the enemy's position, bringing the Highlanders welcome news that they were no longer to fight unsupported. Then followed the din of the thirty British howitzers and field guns, bombarding the Boer trenches might and main to take the pressure off the Scotsmen. Their much-needed aid was not without effect. It was no longer possible for the Boers to fire with complete impunity, and though the Highlanders could not retreat or move without drawing a storm of bullets, they no longer lost heavily. Like the British troops at the Modder River, they lay flat on the ground behind what cover they could find. Yet their trials were by no means at an end. To have to remain prostrate, motionless, without food or water for sixteen weary hours till twilight fell, under a tropical sun, in sight of their own wounded, to whom little or no help or comfort could be given, was a dismaying prospect for men who had already endured so much.
