The Great Round World and What Is Going On In It, Vol. 1, No. 56, December 2, 1897: A Weekly Magazine for Boys and GirlsVarious
History
The Great Round World and What Is Going On In It, Vol. 1, No. 56, December 2, 1897: A Weekly Magazine for Boys and Girls
Various
History, Modern -- 19th century -- Juvenile literature -- Periodicals
Produced by Juliet Sutherland, Emmy and the Online
Distributed Proofreading Team.(www.pgdp.net)
[Illustration: THE GREAT ROUND
WORLD
AND WHAT IS GOING ON IN IT.]
VOL. 1 DECEMBER 2, 1897. NO. 56
=Copyright, 1897, by THE GREAT ROUND WORLD Publishing Company.=
* * * * *
The recent despatches from India tell us that the soldiers who are
fighting on the frontier have performed another gallant deed.
The heroes, this time, belonged to the Northamptonshire regiment.
It was necessary for the British to find out if the enemy was encamped
anywhere in the neighborhood, so a portion of the troops left the
British camp and marched to the summit of a mountain called Saran Sar.
There were no signs of the Afridis as they marched along, and the top of
the hill was reached with little difficulty.
There they found the remains of a hastily vacated camp, and from the
various signs that were around became convinced that the enemy was on
the mountain with them.
Fearing an ambush, the British commander ordered his men to retreat, and
the manoeuvre had hardly been put in effect before the tribesmen
appeared.
Following the troops closely, the Afridis fired on them from behind
every bush and rock that offered cover, and, after many of the English
soldiers had been killed or wounded, the tribesmen became so bold that
they rushed from their cover and engaged in a hand-to-hand encounter
with the soldiers.
General Westmacott, who commanded the party, at once realized that he
had serious work before him, and hastily arranging his forces so that he
could care for the wounded and move his men as quickly as possible, the
commander hastened the retreat.
It was, however, difficult to do; and in the hurry of the retreat one
little party, which had charge of a convoy of wounded comrades, became
separated from the rest of their comrades and were surrounded by the
angry tribesmen.
The retreating army reached the camp safely about dark, and then it was
discovered that a lieutenant named McIntyre and twelve soldiers were
missing.
It was at first hoped that they had simply dropped behind and would
reach camp any moment. When, however, hours passed and they did not
return, the worst fears were entertained.
At last a soldier arrived, bringing with him the dreadful news, and
telling the story of the gallant deed of the lieutenant and his brave
companions.
It seems that the rough ground over which they had to travel made the
progress of this little party very slow, and the care of the wounded
under their charge hampered their movements so much that they at last
found themselves completely cut off from their comrades.
As soon as the young officer realized what had happened to him, he
despatched one of his men for aid, and with the others formed a ring
around the wounded, preparing to defend them until help arrived.
The wounded men, on their part, behaved as nobly as the lieutenant
himself.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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