DOINGS AT CHIEVELEY
It was now found desirable to remove part of the camp about ten and a half miles to the south, to get out of range of the Boer big guns which commanded the position. The wounded were daily being sent off in train-loads to Maritzburg, many of them, in spite of being shot in two or three places, cheerful and anxious to return quickly “to be in at the death,” as they sportingly described it. The funeral of Lord Roberts’s gallant son caused a sense of deep depression to prevail in all ranks, for he was not only regretted by those who held his brilliant qualities in esteem, but in sympathy with the sore affliction which had befallen the veteran “Bobs,” whose name, wherever Tommy goes, is one to conjure with. The ceremony was a most impressive one, and the pall-bearers were all men of young Roberts’s corps. These were Major Prince Christian Victor, Colonels Buchanan-Riddell and Bewicke-Copley, and Major Stuart-Wortley.
The graves of all the unfortunate slain were marked round, covered with flowers, and temporary tablets arranged till suitable memorials should be prepared.
A PICKET OF 13th HUSSARS SURPRISED NEAR THE TUGELA RIVER (HUSSAR HILL).
Drawing by John Charlton.
Meanwhile the Naval guns were unceasing in their activity, and made an appalling accompaniment to the afternoon siestas in which many, owing to the excessive heat, were inclined to indulge. For strategical reasons it was now found necessary to blow up the road-bridge over the Tugela, and thus prevent the Boers from advancing further to the south or spying upon our positions.
Map of the Seat of War. Scale 1 inch=86 miles.
[Transcribers' note: Image is a link to a larger scale image. For ease of reference, the black line beneath the image would be approximately one inch in length in the original.]