Ballads of the War :: :: University of Virginia Library

The Maxim's rattle, the cannon's roar,
Was loud as the sea on a winter's shore,
When he, the Colonel we loved so well,
Hit in the ankle stumbled and fell;
But up he rose with none to aid
And proudly he walked as he walked at parade,
And he smiled “the bone's whole tho' the ball went thro'
And a wound for the Queen is an honour due.”
So forward still to the kopje's crest
Went the Colonel of Colonels, loved the best.

Then a bullet came—I can feel the thud
As it smote him down, I can see the blood
Ooze thro' the khaki—can hear him say
“For Queen and country I needs must stay,
But forward ever brave lads until
The Boers are swept like chaff from the hill.”

And there in the open, while all around
The bullets sputtered and splashed the ground,
The Colonel groaned in his mortal pain
Chilled to the bone by the wind and rain.

Then I a Trooper—no matter my name,
My horse had been shot—alone I came
Into that hell of fury and flame;
And God be praised for the thought of the thing,
For thoughts are swift when the bullets sing;
A voice seemed to say, “Tho' it's ten to one
Against the chance of its being done,
Trooper, the thing for you is to strive
To bring in the Colonel, dead or alive.”

So I faced the bullets that hailed around,
And I lifted him tenderly up from the ground,
Thank God! he was breathing, though faint from his wound;
And heavily weighted—painful and slow,
Backward I came, full in face of the foe.
And the bullets hissed, and the bullets stung,
And suddenly one of my arms down hung;
Yet I knew no pain, but forward prest,
For I thought of the Colonel we loved the best.

Then I felt in a moment the weight was as lead,
And I knew I was bearing a man stone-dead;
Shot, as I carried him home, thro' the head;
Ah! never from Elands-Laagte's fray
A nobler spirit went home that day.

But a voice kept saying, “It's ten to one
You will win the shelter. Well done! well done!
Trooper, the thing for you is to strive
To bring in your Colonel, dead or alive.”
So I stumbled on with the Colonel brave
And brought him in safe to a soldier's grave.

Note.—A trooper in the Imperial Light Horse, who is at present in Maritzburg on sick leave, stated that he saw Colonel Scott-Chisholm shot, and describes the incident as follows:— “Well on in the engagement at Elands-Laagte the Colonel, who had been running about fearlessly, directing the troops, was suddenly seen to drop, and on examination it was found that he had received a wound in the calf of the leg. The wound, however, did not appear to be very serious, for the Colonel rose to his feet and made to rejoin his company. He had only proceeded a short distance, however, when he was again shot, this time in the groin, and he sank to the ground. The fire around him was very heavy at the time, but, notwithstanding, a trooper, whose name, we believe, is Benson, rushed forward, and, after some little difficulty, succeeded in raising the Colonel and putting him across his shoulders. He then hurried as fast as he could towards a shelter, but on the way the Colonel was shot a third time, the bullet on this occasion entering his head and causing immediate death. The trooper was also wounded in his gallant and humane effort, and we understand he is now in the camp hospital at Maritzburg.”—Times of Natal.