CHARGINE THE BATTLE-LINE.

Manawatu Times, Volume IV, Issue 65, 25 August 1880, Page 2

CHARGINE THE BATTLE-LINE.

{Detroit Free Press) Over the right our infantry vere f ali ling back, and the centre could hardly hold its ground. The enemy pould; spare two brigades aad still,^ush pa? right. They were now bringing them up under cover of the woods fo hurl, them Out of left. All our troops were m action/ and' men died on the > battleline with the dogged deterninatioix not. to. give an inch of ground. ; ; :'lf ow thereds a lull; . : V " ic^r; 5 Ho need to tell a: soldier w hat ib means. The enemy is changing; the battle line so to include the reinforcements coming up.; iajfes a rest fora few minuteg. -.-y ;, An aide-de-camp dashes up «[iid iii quiresfor the officer m ;commandiJffe rides down the ]?ne to the colonel. Our regimentis all aloiieV here, and we aia less than TOOvmeh m- the saddle. '■ ' Away goeft.;iJy»; side, and as the cploi nel turns ii Mi fa idle to look pverr&a men we can an see that he wears a pale face. What r was the order P ■' ' It wa« for that lone regiment to swing around tbVcerher of the woods and hurl itself against the enemy coming upp.^far it a blunder, or was; the order' born m the grim despair gnawing away the;fcpnimauding general's heart as he felt; the ba fctle going agai nst hi mP7 If any man knows he has never spoken. ' ;,- '■ ■ 7 --- : The colonel hesitated just a moment. He had seen a hundred saddles emptied that day, and now 70Q men were to ba matched against . 800Q ! : " PorwardJi v ~ j "We m the line did not know where until wo. iur-oed the- woods and'halted to.' dress the Jine>., flalf a m«l e away, and .-coming" forward m bajfctaline, were the two brigades. ■';' There^were stumps here and there m the field, and the fruit was ripe on a dogen scattering cher-ry trees,; . ...,':..::■-' >■'„ \-- ";' ,'v- '■'■■■- There was no order to' nailing carbines. We were going' to ' vfigho- with the sabre alone. Faces grew pale, teeth shut together hard, arid then the silenci of. X death settled, upon the: little band. ' ' . "Forward'" ■■■■■■'- -■-■;•; "Trot!" VQharge]": ;/ - ,V- ;--"; '^ ;-- Aye ! we are -{not mutes after aIH Vi Ijji ! yil- comes the yell, and we all itake.it up. Sabres are flashing, horses. • rushing, and tiooperi shouting; aujd : there is an e^hilirat'pn m the moment ■ which lifts men m: their stlrrdps. ' ' ■ Will they/form m square ? ;'■ No I They shout m derision as 700 men rido: down upon 8000 ! They' halt and the front rank ; drops to : its knees, and the rear rank takes steady aim. J am m the fr,ont rank \of o\ir' charging line; ; and : I can see every mpretnent; I "wish^i t Y^ai.f.oyer. .It, not seem possible that one of us will be alive after their first volley. There will be a grand crash/a sheet of flame,ian;d the ifta;»lslrom of death will have drawn us to earth.- •,v : ■;'-,-. \..'.X.-: .>'.,■.../ .-.'-... \ r ..; ; Nearer-^riearer ! I hear their officeri ; commanding them to be. cool. Wea,rer— here is the crash— the flame—the smoke the" cheeri ' and groans [ Noy? vre are upon them ! Our horses strike the line lilce a great; WTf. Ifhich cannot bestayed ;nor turned aiide, £ see men under i f oot^-f.hey jab at; me w| th bayonets , 'they •strike at me clubbed muskets. -Bugles ;Bpund, officers." shbut— sabres -ring^-t muskets ciasb, and men live through it to pass beyond out of the smoke-cloud. f ' "We have broken their lines and cbn- ; vfused them. They are not retreating, bnt they are disorganised fora moment. Wo can hear thei^ officer shot Ift ig orderly iand there is a poji;! jppp ! .pop J of musketry around us. " E^lj on the centre t" Every Horse knows *rid obeys : tjbi call. tJnder the Srmpke -we re-fprmV The trooper at my left is leaning forward m liis saddle, sabre gone and both hands clutching His horse's mane. There4s blood on his bare head and bronze face, and a. bayonet has given him a horrible wound m his leg. The 'three horses beyond me on. the right have empty saddles* yet here they are ready to charge back again !• . ' ■ "•YiTyirii!". :k. : ':'-l : ; ■ ' Here we go. again ! Who leads us I do notknow : . What we are charging I cannot see. It is only a J minute before I see bayonets and men m Una, and then comes the stock. No man could tell ;you w-hat takes place m that brief mo? ment. It is a horrible nightmare! 6t flame, and smoke, and blood, and death, " We are scarcely through one battle line : before wheel to tht left and strike another. The trooper who was at my. left side is missing. /; There are^ three riderless horaes on on* side and two on the other. They keep pace with rnine^ They rear arid fl.ing thern^ selves against the line, striking with their feet, an<\ ; jcfeaming lik&vcil^ beasilis ai tUe bajoi ttets prick th«m« '

a line— now m a short half-circle and men 'are knocked down and trampelled under foot— now straight ahead, and we follow the single bugle call ba«k to the cover of the woods from whence we started tMrty minutes before. There is a heavy smoke-cloud down where -we fought, •ndLuider its cover the enemr i« trying to reorganise. .Itis to late. Our infan. try line of battle has advanced half a mils, our batteries have secured better positions, and the eiiamy must fall back along its line, or be flanked and crashed. Where is our ' colonel ? Dead under one of th-s therry trees. Our major P killed as we charged the first litse. Five of. our captaiu> V Stark and stiff down tiiere mi tK* elbve'r patch; Eight lieutenants P Dead where the bluecoats are tbicke|s. * ."'"■ ■ "." ■;.':'■' ";.-' - ,"..; ; : ■ Where^re the troopers wlio sat •m Viboi-stainad saddles;£: Whin tWeU^ray draws off we shall ride over th» field m 4 count nearly 200 rank and file of thY brayjßi <ild — 11>, Vho sleep tHir long. >, 4«ep. , Their v fingers will be cleriohed m agony— their eyes wide open —the grass beneath them saturated with jbjood, and-their parted lips will seem to ask of us, , .■;---. ■ .. • : . ■ ■■■«' Hare 'we disd for aught which Christian .men could not have peacefully jietitledin peaceful Voicef " :