96-pounder

Updated: January 10, 2026

That terrible 96-pounder, serenely safe and out of range, was plumping its great projectiles into the masses of retiring troops. The men had had little sleep and little food, and this unanswerable fire was an ordeal for a force which is retreating. A retirement may very rapidly become a rout under such circumstances.

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle - The Great Boer War