According to English reports, Dr. De Landsheer,
a Belgian, was killed in this engagement. The Eng-
lish newspapers asserted that the doctor was found
dead with a bandolier round his body. I can vouch
for the fact that the doctor possessed neither rifle nor
bandolier, and I am unable to believe that he armed
himself on the battlefield.

Six of our Krupp guns were captured in this battle,
but as our ammunition for these pieces was nearly ex-
hausted, the loss of them made little difference to us.

I feel compelled to add that, if the burghers had
stood shoulder to shoulder we should certainly have
driven back the enemy, and the mishap would never
have occurred. We were eight hundred men strong,
and the enemy numbered not more than one thousand
to one thousand two hundred. But a surprise attack
such as theirs had been usually produces disastrous
consequences.

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