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<div style="background:#fff;border:#bbb dashed 1px;padding:5px"><a href="http://en.citatepedia.ro/comments.php?id=539705" style="color:#000;text-decoration:none"><div style="margin:10px 0"><strong>The Last Berkshire Eleven</strong></div><div style="margin:10px 0">'Twas at the disastrous battle of Maiwand, in Afghanistan,<br>Where the Berkshires were massacred to the last man;<br>On the morning of July the 27th, in the year eighteen eighty,<br>Which I'm sorry to relate was a pitiful sight to see. </div><div style="margin:10px 0">Ayoub Khan's army amounted to twelve thousand in all,<br>And honestly speaking it wasn't very small,<br>And by such a great force the Berkshires were killed to the last man,<br>By a murderous rebel horde under the command of Ayoub Khan. </div><div style="margin:10px 0">The British force amounted to about 2000 strong in all,<br>But although their numbers were but few it didn't them appal;<br>They were commanded by General Burrows, a man of courage bold,<br>But, alas! the British army was defeated be it told. </div><div style="margin:10px 0">The 66th Berkshire Regiment stood as firm as a wall,<br>Determined to conquer or die whatever would befall,<br>But in the face of overwhelming odds, and covered to the last,<br>The broken and disordered Sepoys were flying fast </div><div style="margin:10px 0">Before the victorious Afghan soldiers, whose cheers on the air arose,<br>But the gallant band poured in deadly volleys on their foes;<br>And, outnumbered and surrounded, they fell in sections like ripe grain;<br>Still the heroes held their ground, charging with might and main. </div><div style="margin:10px 0">The British force, alas! were shut up like sheep in a pen,<br>Owing to the bad position General Burrows had chosen for his men;<br>But Colonel Galbraith with the Berkshires held the enemy at bay,<br>And had the Sepoys been rallied the Afghans would not have won the day. </div><div style="margin:10px 0">But on the Berkshires fell the brunt of the battle,<br>For by the Afghan artillery they fell like slaughtered cattle;<br>Yet the wild horsemen were met with ringing volleys of musketry,<br>Which emptied many a saddle; still the Afghans fought right manfully. </div><div style="margin:10px 0">And on came the white cloud like a whirlwind;<br>But the gallant Berkshires, alas! no help could find,<br>While their blood flowed like water on every side around,<br>And they fell in scores, but the men rallied and held their ground </div><div style="margin:10px 0">The brave Berkshires under Colonel Galbraith stood firm in the centre there,<br>Whilst the shouts of the wild Ghazis rent the air;<br>But still the Berkshires held them at bay,<br>At the charge of the bayonet, without dismay. </div><div style="margin:10px 0">Then the Ghazis, with increased numbers, made another desperate charge<br>On that red line of British bayonets, which wasn't very large;<br>And the wild horsemen were met again with ringing volleys of musketry,<br>Which was most inspiring and frightful to see. </div><div style="margin:10px 0">Then Ayoub concentrated his whole attack on the Berkshire Regiment,<br>Which made them no doubt feel rather discontent,<br>And Jacob's Rifles and the Grenadiers were a confused and struggling mass,<br>Oh heaven! such a confused scene, nothing could it surpass. </div><div style="margin:10px 0">But the Berkshires stood firm, replying to the fire of the musketry,<br>While they were surrounded on all sides by masses of cavalry;<br>Still that gallant band resolved to fight for their Queen and country,<br>Their motto being death before dishonour, rather than flee. </div><div style="margin:10px 0">At last the gallant British soldiers made a grand stand,<br>While most of the officers were killed fighting hand to hand,<br>And at length the Sepoys fled from the enclosure, panic-stricken and irate,<br>Alas! leaving behind their European comrades to their fate. </div><div style="margin:10px 0">The Berkshires were now reduced to little more than one hundred men,<br>Who were huddled together like sheep in a pen;<br>But they broke loose from the enclosure, and back to back,<br>Poured volley after volley in the midst of the enemy, who weren't slack. </div><div style="margin:10px 0">And one by one they fell, still the men fought without dismay,<br>And the regimental pet dog stuck to the heroes throughout the day;<br>And their cartridge pouches were empty, and of shot they were bereft,<br>And eleven men, most of them wounded, were all that were left. </div><div style="margin:10px 0">And they broke from the enclosure, and followed by the little dog,<br>And with excitement it was barking savagely, and leaping like a frog;<br>And from the field the last eleven refused to retire,<br>And with fixed bayonets they charged on the enemy in that sea of fire. </div><div style="margin:10px 0">Oh, heaven! it was a fearful scene the horrors of that day,<br>When I think of so many innocent lives that were taken away;<br>Alas! the British force were massacred in cold blood,<br>And their blood ran like a little rivulet in full flood. </div><div style="margin:10px 0">And the Ghazis were afraid to encounter that gallant little band<br>At the charge of the bayonet : Oh! the scene was most grand;<br>And the noble and heroic eleven fought on without dismay,<br>Until the last man in the arms of death stiff and stark lay.</div><div style="margin:10px 0"><br /></a><br />poem by <a href="http://en.citatepedia.ro/by.php?a=William+Topaz+McGonagall">William Topaz McGonagall</a><div class=q>
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<script type="text/javascript" src="//s7.addthis.com/js/300/addthis_widget.js#pubid=citatepedia" async="async"></script><div style="display:inline-block" class="addthis_sharing_toolbox" data-url="http://en.citatepedia.ro/comments.php?id=539705" data-title="The Last Berkshire Eleven de William Topaz McGonagall" data-description="'Twas at the disastrous battle of Maiwand, in Afghanistan,
Where the Berkshires were massacred to the last man;
On the morning of July the 27th, in the year eighteen eighty,
Which I'm sorry to relate was a pitiful sight to see. 

Ayoub Khan's army..."></div>
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