March
8th 1900
My
Dear Mother,
Just
a few lines to you in answer to your numerous letters that
I received om the 2nd of March. You don't know what pleasure
it gives me to think that I have been spared to write to
you again, for, dear mother, I must say, that I never witnessed
four such months in the whole of my life, for as you know,
if you have read the papers, that we in Ladysmith have been
surrounded by the enemy, and could not get out, and for
a whole four months have been looking forward to our relief
coming, which it did do on the 28th February, and, dear
mother, it only came just in time, for we was just about
run out of rations, and you can guess what it was like for
we had to eat our own horses. Out of the 520 horses that
we brought with us we have only sixty left. We have eat
all the others, and we was on one little biscuit a day the
latter part of the time, and you would not credit the rubbish
and muck the poor fellows eat, and that is not saying about
the danger we was exposed to all day long, for we was being
fired upon all day long by their big guns which they had
on the hills all round us, for we was in a hollow and they
was on the top of high hills. For the number of shells they
fired at us there should not have been a man left, but I
think the Lord must have been working with us, for most
of the shots found a spare piece of ground. But it was food
we was suffering from mostly and enteric fever, for up to
now, dear mother, we have lost sixty-four out of my Regiment,
and it is the same in every other Regiment. But I don't
know what they are going to do with us now as we have no
horses to go any further up country with, but I don't think
the war will last much longer now as they are just beginning
to see the mistake they made taking on England, but I shall
be only too pleased to get out of it. I always said I should
like to go on active service, but this has fed me up! I
don't want any more of it, but, dear mother, I can't tell
you half of it in here. I shall have to tell you bit by
bit, and then go through the whole thing when I come home.
It might please you to hear that I am alive, so in case
I don't have a chance to write to the others you might let
them know that I am still alive. I will write to you as
often as I can, dear mother. Good-bye! I hope to see you
soon. |