The Scottish soldier and Empire, 1854-1902 - Reenactor.ru

140 The Scottish Soldier and Empire
‘it cheered us very much to think the people at home were thinking of
us’. 19 They also realised that the provincial press would wish to supplement
their coverage of the war with letters from the front.
English and Scottish newspapers duly printed a profusion of letters
about Atbara and its aftermath. Private D. Macdonald (Camerons),
like several Scots, recalled Kitchener’s pre-battle exhortation: ‘Remember
Gordon’ and the men in front are ‘his murderers’. 20 Highly
motivated, they had advanced in the wake of a preparatory artillery
bombardment, the first time in action for many young soldiers. Private
J. Turnbull (Camerons) admitted that ‘It felt a bit funny at first
hearing the bullets whistling round a fellow’s ears, and seeing a chum
drop beside a fellow . . .’, but, as a Seaforth officer added, at least the
‘Camerons had the excitement of firing’, his young soldiers ‘following
50 to 60 yards in rear had nothing to do, except to watch their
men dropping, and all the bleeding and doctoring and stretcher work
...’ 21 Nevertheless, Seaforth and English soldiers lauded the
Camerons for advancing ‘in splendid style’, fighting ‘like demons’ and
bearing the brunt of the casualties. 22 They also commended the gallantry
of Kitchener, Gatacre and their own officers, who led from the
front (although a Seaforth lance-sergeant ruefully admitted that there
was little chance of winning a Victoria Cross as ‘there were too many
officers trying for it, as could easily be seen from the account of the
wounded’). 23
Once the zareba was breached, Sergeant Roderick Morrison (Seaforths)
confirmed that ‘Everything got mixed . . . Camerons and
Seaforths were all through one another’, and the fighting, as fellow
Sergeant Roderick Mackenzie added, was ‘severe . . . a lot of it hand
to hand’. 24 Camerons admitted that they disobeyed orders to pull
down the zareba and let the others through: ‘we took no notice of
that’, wrote Private Macdonald, and another noted: ‘We were at fixed
bayonets; we did not want any orders to charge but went for them for
all we were worth like devils.’ 25 Bandsman P. Learmonth (Seaforths)
was not alone in describing the enemy as indifferent marksmen but
‘brave men’ who died ‘without a groan’; Corporal Farquharson
(Seaforths) agreed that ‘Some of them made a very good stand, but not
one of them was shown any mercy. Our fellows had revenge for
Gordon right enough,’ both in the zareba, and as they tried to retreat
across the river whereupon the shooting ‘reminded me of a rabbit
drive at home’. 26 Scots justified such ruthlessness as necessary to avenge
Gordon and fallen comrades, to retaliate against a ‘treacherous’
foe who, if wounded or shamming death, was liable to attack any