To protect the guns, the Scots Guards were sent forward, and vigorous efforts were made to rally the shaken Highlanders. Major Ewart rode up with a message from Lord Methuen that all he asked was for the men to hold their ground till nightfall. Staff officers, officers, sergeants, and corporals set a fine example, reminding the heart-broken _débris_ of what had been the day before the best fighting brigade in the British Army, of the call of duty and honour. The pipers wailed sorrowfully in their effort to stir the men by the sound of the martial notes to which they had often marched to glory. Major Milton, though he had received three bullets and was mortally wounded, was among those who distinguished themselves in the effort to encourage the Highlanders. "Men," he said, "you are not conquered, but repulsed." And it is to the credit of the men that, after the fearful surprise of the night attack, after the long ordeal of the terrible morning, they rallied once more, once more went back to face death and torture, and took ground close to the guns, where with difficulty they found some shelter from the bullets of the Boers. "Whoever," says a German officer, writing of Mars-la-Tour, "has been in so murderous a conflict as this will know what moral force, what confidence in one's own efficiency are requisite for such conduct at a time when nothing remains of a brigade but paper numbers. This force of will is needed in an army that is determined to conquer." [Sidenote: DEC. 11, 1899.] _The Boers Checked on our Right._] Throughout these tragical events, as in the earlier part of the day, the conduct of the artillery had been beyond all praise. Exposed to every shot the gunners stood firm, even when the troops before them were melting away under the trials of battle. Their magnificent behaviour saved the British Army from a great disaster, for, had they wavered, had they even relented their impetuous fire, Lord Methuen's force must have been riven in two. Magnificent, too, was the conduct of the Coldstreams. They, also, stood like a rock in the rout, though their position was one of great danger. It was at this time that Major the Marquis of Winchester fell dead, "displaying an almost reckless courage." But a few days before, not far from the very spot on which he died, he had jestingly spoken of his rumoured fall in the battle of the Modder River. And now death had claimed him. Throughout the day he had insisted upon walking to and fro along the firing line, instructing the men as to where they were to aim their fire. Bullets rained around him; several passed through his helmet and his clothes, but he seemed to bear a charmed life. The fatal shot pierced his spine. [Illustration: _Edward Read._] ESCAPE OF A CAPTURED CORPORAL OF THE SEAFORTHS.] [Sidenote: [DEC. 11, 1899.]