There is fierce combat between Benin and British Expedition Force.
Extract from A DIARY OF A SURGEON WITH THE BENIN PUNITIVE EXPEDITION' By FELIX N. ROTH, M.R.C.S., and L.R.C.P.
Cross- Road Camp, February 15th.—We left the Ologbo Camp yesterday morning at 6 a.m., but a little before 3 a.m. we had a night alarm, the natives came round part of the camp, beat the tom-toms for our edification, and kept us awake and on the alert, ready for our start. Allman, the principal medical officer, and myself, of the N.C. Protectorate, dressed and got pottering round, getting our carriers in order, and collecting stretchers and hammocks for the wounded. Well, we started at daybreak. Colonel Hamilton in command, with 260 black troops, one rocket tube, two Maxims, one navy Maxim, two seven-pounders, a company of marines, and forty scouts. We proceeded up the Benin road for about three miles, when the natives, who were in ambush, fired upon us again and again. We cleared them out with Maxims and volley firing several times, but they again came on and fired into us. We again cleared them out of the bush with the Maxims and forced them to retire, and after our column had done another mile or so, we formed camp for the night. Our firing was pretty hot, the rattling of the Maxims and rifles, the shouting of the ofiicers, the howling of the enemy, and the excitement amongst our own carriers are beyond me to describe. The excitement in the dense bush, the smoke, the working of the seven-pounders, and the whizzing past of our rockets put the fear of God both into ourselves and the natives. I picked up one man shot through the thigh, and another through the lungs. Luckily no white men were wounded; we all got off scot-free. We marched in single file, the scouts in front, followed by a half company of black troops under white officers, then followed a Maxim, with one in reserve ; myself, with stretcher party, were close behind them. We seem to be doing all the fighting up at this end of the column. I cannot tell the order of the middle and rear part of the column, which is nearly three miles long, being much too busy at my end. We had now cleared the natives out of their camp, and the troops, in conjunction with my stretcher party, started to build a hospital. This consists of four upright posts, fixed into the ground, and lashed together at the top with cross-pieces, all tightly fixed together by a native creeper called " tie-tie." The roof consists of the hammocks laid on the cross-pieces. Being at the head of the column, where all the fighting takes place, most of the wounded come under my hands first. Every time a man is wounded the whole column stops, the path being so narrow we can only march in single file. It is impossible for me to do much for the wounded. If a man is bleeding badly I simply put on a tourniquet or dressing, and leave him on the side path, to be picked up by Allman and his stretcher party, who are at the rear of the column. By the time I have built my hospital Allman comes up with the wounded and the field cases, and we at once start to do our best for them. Everybody has complimented us on our arrangements, and the quick way we erect our hospitals. We make the poor wounded chaps as comfortable as possible, and despatch them at once to our base at Ologbo. We sent a batch down to-day at 3 p.m. I must mention that our black troops with the scouts in front and a few Maxims do all the fighting. I am the medical officer with them in the thick of everything. My black boy Charles carries my bag, which contains a few bandages and tourniquets, and I ha.ve also with me four hammocks and four stretchers. In fact, I am the first aid to the wounded. Allman follows up with a field case and another stretcher party. We extracted the bullet from the wounded man's thigh, but could do nothing for the man who was shot in the lungs. These black men heal wonderfully well, and take everything as a matter of course. At about 3 p.m. part of the column started to burn a village, but after nearly losing ourselves in the bush and struggling through the same for seven miles, we were obliged to return before dark, accomplishing nothing. Our camp is a great clearing made by the natives; the trees are nearly 120 feet high, with much foliage at the top, the sun hardly being able to penetrate down to us, which is lucky, as the place is thus kept cool.
References
1) Bacon, R. H. Benin City of Blood, 1897
2) Bacon, R. Admiral Sir, Benin Expedition, A Naval Scrap-Book, First Part,
1877 – 1900: 197 – 207
3) Boisragon, A. The Benin Massacre,1897
4) Roth, H. L. 1903 appendix 11 cited Roth N. F. A DIARY OF A SURGEON WITH THE BENIN PUNITIVE EXPEDITION'
Extract from A DIARY OF A SURGEON WITH THE BENIN PUNITIVE EXPEDITION' By FELIX N. ROTH, M.R.C.S., and L.R.C.P.
Cross- Road Camp, February 15th.—We left the Ologbo Camp yesterday morning at 6 a.m., but a little before 3 a.m. we had a night alarm, the natives came round part of the camp, beat the tom-toms for our edification, and kept us awake and on the alert, ready for our start. Allman, the principal medical officer, and myself, of the N.C. Protectorate, dressed and got pottering round, getting our carriers in order, and collecting stretchers and hammocks for the wounded. Well, we started at daybreak. Colonel Hamilton in command, with 260 black troops, one rocket tube, two Maxims, one navy Maxim, two seven-pounders, a company of marines, and forty scouts. We proceeded up the Benin road for about three miles, when the natives, who were in ambush, fired upon us again and again. We cleared them out with Maxims and volley firing several times, but they again came on and fired into us. We again cleared them out of the bush with the Maxims and forced them to retire, and after our column had done another mile or so, we formed camp for the night. Our firing was pretty hot, the rattling of the Maxims and rifles, the shouting of the ofiicers, the howling of the enemy, and the excitement amongst our own carriers are beyond me to describe. The excitement in the dense bush, the smoke, the working of the seven-pounders, and the whizzing past of our rockets put the fear of God both into ourselves and the natives. I picked up one man shot through the thigh, and another through the lungs. Luckily no white men were wounded; we all got off scot-free. We marched in single file, the scouts in front, followed by a half company of black troops under white officers, then followed a Maxim, with one in reserve ; myself, with stretcher party, were close behind them. We seem to be doing all the fighting up at this end of the column. I cannot tell the order of the middle and rear part of the column, which is nearly three miles long, being much too busy at my end. We had now cleared the natives out of their camp, and the troops, in conjunction with my stretcher party, started to build a hospital. This consists of four upright posts, fixed into the ground, and lashed together at the top with cross-pieces, all tightly fixed together by a native creeper called " tie-tie." The roof consists of the hammocks laid on the cross-pieces. Being at the head of the column, where all the fighting takes place, most of the wounded come under my hands first. Every time a man is wounded the whole column stops, the path being so narrow we can only march in single file. It is impossible for me to do much for the wounded. If a man is bleeding badly I simply put on a tourniquet or dressing, and leave him on the side path, to be picked up by Allman and his stretcher party, who are at the rear of the column. By the time I have built my hospital Allman comes up with the wounded and the field cases, and we at once start to do our best for them. Everybody has complimented us on our arrangements, and the quick way we erect our hospitals. We make the poor wounded chaps as comfortable as possible, and despatch them at once to our base at Ologbo. We sent a batch down to-day at 3 p.m. I must mention that our black troops with the scouts in front and a few Maxims do all the fighting. I am the medical officer with them in the thick of everything. My black boy Charles carries my bag, which contains a few bandages and tourniquets, and I ha.ve also with me four hammocks and four stretchers. In fact, I am the first aid to the wounded. Allman follows up with a field case and another stretcher party. We extracted the bullet from the wounded man's thigh, but could do nothing for the man who was shot in the lungs. These black men heal wonderfully well, and take everything as a matter of course. At about 3 p.m. part of the column started to burn a village, but after nearly losing ourselves in the bush and struggling through the same for seven miles, we were obliged to return before dark, accomplishing nothing. Our camp is a great clearing made by the natives; the trees are nearly 120 feet high, with much foliage at the top, the sun hardly being able to penetrate down to us, which is lucky, as the place is thus kept cool.
References
1) Bacon, R. H. Benin City of Blood, 1897
2) Bacon, R. Admiral Sir, Benin Expedition, A Naval Scrap-Book, First Part,
1877 – 1900: 197 – 207
3) Boisragon, A. The Benin Massacre,1897
4) Roth, H. L. 1903 appendix 11 cited Roth N. F. A DIARY OF A SURGEON WITH THE BENIN PUNITIVE EXPEDITION'