ide of the picture when busily engaged in
helping the wounded. "The gentleman in khaki," poor fellow, has often
precious little khaki left on him by the time he reaches the base
hospital. When the femoral artery is shot through one does not waste
time by thinking of the integrity of a pair of trousers--a few rips of
the knife and away goes a yard or two of khaki. If the cases had not
been so sad we should often have laughed at the extraordinary appearance
of some of the men. One soldier, for example, was brought into our train
with absolutely nothing on him except one sleeve, which he seemed to
treasure for the sake of comparative respectability! Wounded men
frequently lose so much blood before they are found that their clothes
become quite stiff, and the best thing to do is to cut the whole uniform
off them and wrap them in blankets.

Perhaps it is worth while writing a few words about the general method
pursued in the collection and treatment of our wounded men. In a frontal
attack upon a position held in force by the enemy, our men advance in
"quarter column," or other close formation, till they get within range
of the enemy's fire. They then "extend," _i.e._, every man takes up his
position a few paces away from his neighbour, and in all probability
lies or stoops down behind whatever he can find, at the same time
keeping up an incessant riflefire on the enemy. Far behind him, and
usually on his right or left, the artillerymen are hard at work sending
shell after shell upon the trenches in front. Every now and then the
infantrymen run or crawl forward fifty or sixty yards, and thus
gradually forge ahead till within two hundred yards of the enemy, when
with loud cheers and fixed bayonets they leap up and rush forward to
finish off the fight with cold steel.

Even from this skeleton outline it is easy to see that the wounded in a
battle like Belmont and Graspan are all over the place, though the
motionless forms grow more numerous the nearer we get to the enemy's
lines. Now, strictly speaking, stretcher-bearers ought not to move
forward to the aid of the wounded _during the battle_. The proper period
for this work is two hours after the cessation of hostilities. But
in almost every engagement of the present campaign our stretcher-bearers
with their officers have gallantly advanced during the progress of the
fighting and attended to the wounded under fire. Such plucky conduct as
this merits the warmest praise. In the