Fired at Spion Kop and not exploded. Presented by the finder to President Kruger.
CAPTAIN HICKS.
Killed at Spion Kop. Was the son of Hicks Pasha, the unfortunate General who, with all his forces, was massacred in the Soudan, Nov. 1883.
MAP OF THE BATTLE OF SPION KOP.
Partly based, by permission, on the map in Mr. Winston Churchill's "London to Ladysmith via Pretoria."
[Jan. 24, 1900.
The personal story of a wounded officer of the 2nd Middlesex is worthy of repetition, as it gives a clear account of the afternoon's battle. "I crawled," he says, "a little way with half my company, and then brought up others in the same manner. The men of the different regiments already on the hill were mixed up, and ours met the same fate. It was impossible, under the circumstances, to keep regimental control. One unit merged into another; one officer gave directions to this or that unit, or to another battalion. I saw some tents on the far side of the hill to our front, and knowing the enemy must be there, opened with volleys at 1,800 yards, when we saw a puff of smoke, indicating that one of the Boer guns had just fired. We lay prone, and could only venture a volley now and again, firing independently at times when the shower of bullets seemed to fall away, and the shells did not appear likely to land specially amongst us. Everywhere, however, it was practically the same deadly smash of shells, mangling and killing all about us. The only troops actually close to me then were a party of the Lancashire Fusiliers inside a schanze, F Company of the Middlesex, and a mixed company of other troops on the left front. A good many shells from the big guns burst near us, and a lance-corporal of the Fusiliers was killed. The only point I could see rifle fire proceeding from was a trench, the third, I believe, occupied by our troops on the right, and looking towards Spearman's.
"Presently I heard a great deal of shouting from this trench, in which were about fifty men. They were calling for reinforcements, and shouting, 'The Boers are coming up.' Two or three minutes afterwards, I saw a party of about forty Boers walking towards the trench. They came up quite coolly; most of them had their rifles slung, and all, so far as I could observe, had their hands up. Our men in the trench—they were Fusiliers—were then standing up also, with their hands up, and shouting, 'The Boers are giving in, the Boers are giving in.' I did not know what to think, but ordered a company of my regiment to fix bayonets. We waited to see what would happen. Just then, when the Boers were close to the trench, someone—whether an enemy or one of our men—fired a shot. In an instant there was a general stampede, or rather a mêlée, my men rushing from their position and charging, while the Boers fired at the men in the trench, knocking several back into it dead. Previous to this, a Boer came towards me saying, 'I won't hurt you.' He looked frightened, and threw down his rifle. Immediately afterwards a Boer fired, and there was a frightful muddle. I fired at one Boer, and then another passed. We were fighting hand to hand. I shot the Boer and he dropped, clinging, however, to his rifle as he fell, and covering me most carefully. He fired, and I fell like a rabbit, the bullet going in just over and grazing the left lung. I lay where I fell until midnight. Subsequent to my being hit, parties of Boers passed twice over me, trying on the same trick, holding up their hands, as if they were asking for quarter. But our men refused to be taken in again, and fired, killing or driving them back." Thus it would seem that the Boers were guilty of acts even more questionable than those with which they charged our men.