As he suddenly
collapsed in the middle of the "officers' mess call" we
concluded that a bullet had brought him to an untimely end.[25]
[25] _A Frontier Campaign_; by the Viscount Fincastle, V.C.,
Lieutenant 16th Lancers, and P.C. Eliott-Lockhart, D.S.O.,
Lieutenant Queen's Own Corps of Guides. London, 1898.
The fighting went on all night, and at daybreak the garrison, to show
that they were none the worse for it, made a spirited counter attack,
the 24th Punjab Infantry under Lieutenant Climo, the senior surviving
officer, doing great execution. A desultory fire was kept up by the
enemy during the day, while the British force improved their defences.
As darkness fell on the third night, the enemy, undaunted and heavily
reinforced from countries as far afield as Buner, again advanced to the
attack, the brunt of which fell on the 31st Punjab Infantry, a regiment
so depleted by losses that Lieutenant H. Maclean, of the Guides'
cavalry, was requisitioned to give a helping hand. This officer,
together with Lieutenants Ford and Swinley, were severely wounded.
Towards morning the attack again died away, and the indomitable garrison
still held its own.
On the fourth night, in addition to bonfires placed out in front of the
defences, to make the enemy's movements clear, it was decided to try the
effect of mines, and portions of a serai, lately occupied by the Sappers
and now abandoned, were accordingly undermined.
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