For Five Hours, Under The Tropical Sun, The
Grimy Parched Men Held On To The Ground They Had Occupied.
British
shells pitched short and fell among them.
A regiment in support
fired at them, not knowing that any of the line were so far
advanced. Shot at from the front, the flank, and the rear, the 5th
Brigade held grimly on.
But fortunately their orders to retire were at hand, and it is
certain that had they not reached them the regiments would have
been uselessly destroyed where they lay. It seems to have been
Buller himself, who showed extraordinary and ubiquitous personal
energy during the day, that ordered them to fall back. As they
retreated there was an entire absence of haste and panic, but
officers and men were hopelessly jumbled up, and General
Hart - whose judgment may occasionally be questioned, but whose cool
courage was beyond praise - had hard work to reform the splendid
brigade which six hours before had tramped out of Chieveley Camp.
Between five and six hundred of them had fallen - a loss which
approximates to that of the Highland Brigade at Magersfontein. The
Dublins and the Connaughts were the heaviest sufferers.
So much for the mishap of the 5th Brigade. It is superfluous to
point out that the same old omissions were responsible for the same
old results. Why were the men in quarter column when advancing
against an unseen foe? Why had no scouts gone forward to be certain
of the position of the ford?
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