The Works of Robert Louis Stevenson - Swanston Edition, Vol. 22: Juvenilia and Other PapersStevenson, Robert Louis
History
The Works of Robert Louis Stevenson - Swanston Edition, Vol. 22: Juvenilia and Other Papers
Stevenson, Robert Louis
English literature -- 19th century
NOTE.--Retreat of the Mar column. The army which so long and so usefully
held the passes behind Mar, over the neck of Long Bluff, did not begin
to retreat until the enemy had already occupied Mar and begun to engage
their outposts. Supplies had already been cut off by the advanced
position of Stevenson. The men were short of bread. The roads were
heavy; the horses starving. The rear of the column was continually and
disastrously engaged with the enemy pouring after. It is perhaps the
saddest chapter in the history of the war. My grandmother, Mrs. Hankey
(_nee_ Pillworthy), then a young girl on a mountain farm on the line of
the retreat, distinctly remembers giving a soda biscuit, which was
greedily received, to Colonel Diggory Jacks, then in command of our
division, and lending him an umbrella, which was never returned. This
incident, trivial as it may be thought, emphatically depicts the
destitution of our brave soldiers.
In the meantime, in the west, the enemy are slowly passing the rivers
and advancing with their main body on Scarlet, and with a single corps
on Glentower. Cinnabar was occupied on the 21st in the morning, and a
heavy contribution raised. The situation may thus be stated: In the
centre we are the sole arbiters, commanding the roads and holding a
position which can only be described as authoritative. In the east,
Delafield's corps has been destroyed; but the enemy's army of the pass,
on the other hand, is in a critical position and may, in the course of a
few days or so, be forced to lay down its arms. In the west, nothing as
yet is decided, and the movement through the Glentower Pass somewhat
hampers General Potty's position.
The comparative losses during these days are very encouraging, and
compare pleasingly with the cost of the early part of the campaign. The
enemy have lost 12,800 men, killed, wounded, and prisoners, as against
4,800 on our side.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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