United States or Mauritania ? Vote for the TOP Country of the Week !
The brigade was in square, and the 42nd, who were in front, charged the enemy at the double, cheering loudly; but this movement left a gap between them and the 65th, who formed the right face of the square, and, before the gap could be closed up, great hordes of Arabs charged down and burst into the square. For a while all was confusion. The 65th fell back on the marines.
The action altogether had lasted twelve hours, extending along two and a half miles of road. During the greater part of the time the firing was incessant, the loss suffered by the 42nd being proof of its severity, nearly every fourth man having been hit. The enemy must have lost upwards of 2000 men in killed and wounded.
One young man writes: "I completely regained my speech at the Bogue Institute in 1915. I enlisted in the army and was sent overseas in the spring of '18, and went through some of the hardest fighting the 42nd Division was in, that being the Division I was transferred to, and am happy to say the speech trouble has never come back on me. I was wounded by a fragment of high explosive shell.
There will be two more awakenings that night once at Batavia, where a merry wedding party with horns and cow bells will follow the lucky bride and groom into your car, and once at Schenectady, where the Pullman car shock-absorbing tests are held. The next morning, tired but unhappy, you will reach New York. The Aquarium. Take Fifth Avenue Bus to Times Square. Transfer to 42nd Street Crosstown.
On the 1st January the disembarkation took place, and the 42nd Highlanders and Rifle Brigade marched for the front, the Naval Brigade having gone up a week previously. On the 20th the bridge across the Prah was completed by the bluejackets and engineers, under the command of Colonel Home.
Thus, could this plan of battle have been carried out, the whole would have formed a hollow square, the right and left columns protecting the 42nd from any of those flanking movements of which the Ashantis were always so fond.
Jackson thought otherwise, and almost immediately after the battle he relieved him of his command, placed him under arrest, and framed charges for his trial by court-martial. He would not accept the excuse that ammunition had given out. At the time the Stonewall Brigade gave back the 5th and 42nd Virginia were at hand.
Even more delightful was the long series of entertainments which we organised in the Battalion, and which eventually drew large numbers from the rest of the 42nd Division. These entertainments were opened by lectures on history.
In the action, besides Captain Buckle, there were two privates of the 42nd and one of Wood's regiment killed. Of wounded, there were 15 military officers, and 147 men; 6 officers of the Naval Brigade, and 26 men. As short a time as possible was spent at Amoaful, when the force again advanced on the 2nd of February.
The 42nd Division Intelligence Report of August 7 reported the matter as follows: 'Relief south of the Serre-Mailly Road which commenced on a large scale on the morning of the 6th was continued during the evening; between 6.50 and 8.20 P.M. 197 men with packs in nineteen parties came towards the front line past Q. 6. a. 95. 80. These parties were engaged by H.A. with great success.
Word Of The Day