f the conflict, for this was the
third and bloodiest day of the seven days' fighting called the battle of
Pieters.

I found Sir Redvers Buller and his Staff in a somewhat exposed position,
whence an excellent view could be obtained. The General displayed his
customary composure, asked me how my brother's wound was getting on, and
told me that he had just ordered Hart's Brigade, supported by two
battalions from Lyttelton's Division, to assault the hill marked '3' on
my diagram, and hereinafter called Inniskilling Hill. 'I have told Hart
to follow the railway. I think he can get round to their left flank
under cover of the river bank,' he said, 'but we must be prepared for a
counter-attack on our left as soon as they see what I'm up to;' and he
then made certain dispositions of his cavalry, which brought the South
African Light Horse close up to the wooded kopje on which we stood. I
must now describe the main Pieters position, one hill of which was about
to be attacked.

It ran, as the diagram shows, from the high and, so far as we were
concerned, inaccessible hills on the west to the angle of the river, and
then along the three hills marked 3, 2, and 1. I use this inverted
sequence of numbers because we were now attacking them in the wrong
order.

Sir Redvers Buller's plan was as follows: On the 22nd he had taken the
low kopjes, and his powerful artillery gave him complete command of the
river gorge. Behind the kopjes, which acted as a kind of shield, and
along the river gorge he proposed to advance his infantry until the
angle of the river was passed and there was room to stretch out his,
till then, cramped right arm and reach round the enemy's left on
Inniskilling Hill, and so crumple it.

This perilous and difficult task was entrusted to the Irish Brigade,
which comprised the Dublin Fusiliers, the Inniskilling Fusiliers, the
Connaught Rangers, and the Imperial Light Infantry, who had temporarily
replaced the Border Regiment--in all about three thousand men, supported
by two thousand more. Their commander, General Hart, was one of the
bravest officers in the army, and it was generally felt that such a
leader and such troops could carry the business through if success lay
within the scope of human efforts.

The account of the ensuing operation is so tragic and full of mournful
interest that I must leave it to another letter.

CHAPTER XXIV

THE BATTLE OF PIETERS: THE THIRD DAY

Hospital ship 'Maine': M