FREE BOOKS

Author's List




PREV.   NEXT  
|<   141   142   143   144   145   146   147   148   149   150   151   152   153   154   155   >>  
uthward, leaving them behind to rejoin the British column several days afterward. [Illustration: FIRST BRITISH PRISONERS OF WAR CAPTURED NEAR DUNDEE] During the war it was continually charged by both combatants that dum-dum bullets were being used, and undoubtedly there was ample foundation for the charges. Both Boers and British used that particular kind of expansive bullet notwithstanding all the denials that were made in newspapers and orations. After the battle of Pieter's Hills, on February 28th, Dr. Krieger, General Meyer's Staff Physician, went into General Sir Charles Warren's camp for the purpose of exchanging wounded prisoners. After the interchange of prisoners had been accomplished General Warren produced a dum-dum bullet which had been found on a dead Boer's body and, showing it to Dr. Krieger, asked him why the Boers used the variety of cartridge that was not sanctioned by the rules of civilised warfare. Dr. Krieger took the cartridge in his hand and, after examining it, returned it to Sir Charles with the remark that it was a British Lee-Metford dum-dum. General Warren seemed to be greatly nonplussed when several of his officers confirmed the physician's statement and informed him that a large stock of dum-dum cartridges had been captured by the Boers at Dundee. It is an undeniable fact that the Boers captured thousands of rounds of dum-dum cartridges which bore the "broad arrow" of the British army, and used them in subsequent battles. It was stated in Pretoria that the Boers had a small stock of dum-dum ammunition, which was not sent to the burghers at the front at the request of President Kruger, who strongly opposed the use of an expansive bullet in warfare. It was an easy matter, however, for the Boers to convert their ordinary Mauser cartridges into dum-dum by simply cutting off the point of the bullet, and this was occasionally done. One of the pluckiest men in the Boer army was Arthur Donnelly, a young Irish American from San Francisco, who served in the Pretoria detective force for several years, and went to the war in one of the commandos under General Cronje. At the battle of Koodoesberg Donnelly and Captain Higgins, of the Duke of Cornwall's regiment, both lay behind ant-heaps, several hundred yards apart, and engaged in a duel with carbines for almost an hour. After Donnelly had fired seventeen shots Captain Higgins was fatally wounded by a bullet, and lifted his handkerchief in token of s
PREV.   NEXT  
|<   141   142   143   144   145   146   147   148   149   150   151   152   153   154   155   >>  



Top keywords:
General
 

bullet

 

British

 
Warren
 
cartridges
 
Krieger
 

Donnelly

 

battle

 

Pretoria

 

wounded


cartridge
 
prisoners
 

Charles

 

warfare

 

expansive

 

Captain

 

Higgins

 

captured

 

Mauser

 

simply


lifted
 

matter

 

convert

 
ordinary
 

subsequent

 
battles
 
handkerchief
 

thousands

 

rounds

 

stated


President

 

Kruger

 
strongly
 
request
 

cutting

 
ammunition
 

burghers

 

opposed

 

occasionally

 

detective


hundred

 

served

 
Francisco
 

Koodoesberg

 
Cornwall
 
commandos
 

Cronje

 

engaged

 
regiment
 

seventeen