Wolves in War Ancient and Modern / 1600 to 1900
Written
and Researched by: Ivy Stanmore Sydney, Australia
Wolf
Song of Alaska Member and Volunteer
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"Military
history is one of the most rapidly shifting
of all studies. Strategy and tactics alter
with fluctuating world conditions, technology
and leadership, alliances about face so that
the deadly enemy of yesterday may easily become
the cherished friend of today, the daring revolutionary
of one war suffers a sea change into the rigid
dogmatist of the next, weapons and other materiel
become obsolete almost before they leave the
drawing board. The unexpected can happen and
often does." |
So
wrote an eminent American historian prefacing his research in a book concerning
Pearl Harbor. It applies equally to the subject of Wolves and War. Part I of
this series of articles concentrated on kings and other prominent persons who
used the wolf to portray an image of themselves and of their people. During succeeding
centuries the image of the wolf continued in use, though the perception changes
as the characteristics of the wolf - courage, tenacity, patience in the hunt
- are brought to the fore and applied to armaments, shipping and feats of arms,
as well as to persons. In Europe there were still enough live wolves to inspire
fear, as the examples will show.
The story of the Spanish Armada and its attempted
invasion of England is well known, as is the eventual failure and dispersal of
the Armada. After the Spanish ships were sunk or scattered, the difficulty remained
for those still afloat to reach their homeports. The Channel route was closed,
and ships of the English fleet were patrolling, keeping a lookout for any straggling
Spanish vessels they could pick off.
Many Spanish survivors decided to go "north about" in
an attempt to reach home, that is to sail north around Scotland and Ireland.
The fickle weather turned against them, storms battered the defeated ships, and
several were driven ashore and wrecked along the eastern and northern coasts
of Scotland. The remainder were driven on toward Ireland where more met their
end in stormy seas. One such ship was the "Lavia" under Captain Francisco de
Cuellar, who survived many ordeals and wrote a vivid account of his misfortunes.
The Lavia had managed to reach Erris Head, where
she was forced to anchor for five days. The ship was then blown ashore in the
teeth of a ferocious storm and ended up on Streedagh Strand, just north of Sligo.
Two other ships were also swept ashore at the same time and shortly thereafter
all three were battered to pieces by the force of sea and wind. Cuellar writes
it was "a most terrible spectacle" and states that more than 1,000 seamen were
drowned and less than 300 survivors reached land. Then their troubles really
started. The local inhabitants had no intention of giving assistance to the survivors,
at least not without reward and perhaps not even then. Cuellar reports:
"The
land and beach were full of our enemies…. Whenever
any of our men reached land, 200 savages and other enemies
rushed upon them and stripped them of everything they wore,
leaving them stark naked, and without any pity beat and
ill-used them."
The
local inhabitants it seems believed the Spanish sailors had
gold and other articles of value sewn into their garments.
Some did, and the fact that most of the sailors who could
not swim sank rapidly and drowned gave weight to the Irish
belief that it was gold and jewels that were weighing them
down. Eventually Cuellar was washed ashore from the wreckage,
badly injured. His legs had been crushed and he was unable
to stand. He still wore a gold chain around his neck and
had 45 gold pieces in his clothing, which represented two
months' pay. Cuellar was lucky: the natives presumed him
dead. When night fell there were some 600 bodies on the beach.
Then the animal scavengers arrived, crows and wolves making
their way among the wreckage, seeking who or what they could
devour.
Wolves had survived in Scotland and Ireland long
after they had become extinct in England and Wales, and they were not uncommon
in the wilder parts of the country. Wolves were reported in Ireland as late as
the mid-1700s, approximately 150 years after the events of the Spanish Armada.
After further harrowing adventures, Cuellar managed
to reach the lands of Darty MacClancy, who aided many survivors, sheltering them
in his castle at Rossclogher. MacClancy had a deep hatred of the English and
he was prepared to help their enemies in any way he could. Eventually Cuellar
reached his home in Spain, where, fully recovered, he penned his account of his
Armada journeys.
The Thirty Years War (1618 to 1648) devastated
Europe. Most areas of the continent were drawn into the conflict at some point
during the three decades it dragged on, and at its end the population in parts
of the continent was drastically reduced. Country towns were decimated and larger
cities suffered severe depopulation. Trade halted, ships did not sail. General
Mortaigne said of one area:
"I
would not have believed a land could be so despoiled had
I not seen it with my own eyes."
The
social development of Central Europe was retarded for generations
and in some areas the effects of this long-ago war are present
to this day. From whence came the whirlwind of war that swept
Europe? This war, which turned Western Europe from the medieval
to the modern world and saw dimly in its results the birth
of nationalism, started as a medieval struggle for power
between the Austrian-Spanish Hapsburgs and the French Bourbons.
Allies frequently changed sides, power struggles (even in
the seventeenth century) made strange bedfellows, and peoples
of opposing religious views who had fought against each other
were allies before peace was restored. The battles were fought
mainly on German lands, for Germany at this time was not
a united country but a collection of princely states.
The original enmity between these peoples may have
originated in the fifteenth century. It is worth noting that in 1477 Charles
the Rash, Duke of Burgundy, was killed in a battle against Louis XI of France.
As a mark of contempt his body was left lying on the battlefield where, before
it was recovered for burial, it is said to have been mauled by wolves. Enmity,
though hidden, smoldered below the surface. One hundred and fifty years later
it burst forth viciously and Europe paid a terrible price for the following 30
years.
War was expected to commence between Spain and
the rebels in The Netherlands, then ruled by Spain. Therefore, it was a surprise
when fighting broke out in Bohemia, where the people of Prague revolted against
the Austrian Hapsburgs. The Catholic representatives of the Hapsburgs were tossed
out of the window of the Hradcany Palace, this incident being recorded in history
as the Defenestration of Prague. The rebels offered the Bohemian throne to Frederick,
Elector of the Palatinate, who accepted the crown, and so England became involved,
though only on the sidelines. Frederick's queen was Elizabeth, daughter of James
I of England (James VI of Scotland). She became known as the "Winter Queen," for
soon Elizabeth and Frederick were in flight and the rebellion was quickly stamped
out, but not before war had spread into German lands. (It is interesting to note
that descendants of this "Winter Queen" still comprise the ruling family of Great
Britain.)
The Hapsburg reigning monarch was Ferdinand II,
who saw himself as the champion of the Catholic cause and leader of the Counter-Reformation.
Three battles are of interest in this war: two of them took place at Wolfenbuttel,
which is situated in the north German plain in Lower Saxony, and the third took
place at Wolfsegg, near Wels and Gmunden in Upper Austria. A translation of Wolfenbuttel
possibly means, "where the wolves come to feed." Nearby is Wolfsburg - "mountain
of the wolves." Wolfsegg means "the corner where the wolves meet." These names,
still in use, recall a time when wolves were common in these areas.
Meanwhile, on another front events also were stirring.
Defending the Protestant cause in the north of Germany, near Wolfenbuttel, were
three commanders. Christian of Denmark, Christian of Brunswick and General Ernst
von Mansfeld. Christian of Brunswick, with an army composed mainly of ill-armed
peasants, aimed to reach Hesse, enroll the Landgrave in the Protestant cause
and attack the Hapsburg army. That army was headed by General Tilly, a devout
Catholic from Belgium, known as "the monk in armor" as he had wished to join
the Society of Jesus rather than become a soldier. Christian of Brunswick failed
in his mission. Worn out and sick at only 28 years old, he had lost all his lands
and his fortune. The Hessian Landgrave refused any help. Ill and depressed, Christian
of Brunswick led his forces in retreat to Wolfenbuttel, where he died in 1626.
General von Mansfeld fared no better, although
he led an experienced, well-equipped army. He was decisively beaten by the Austrian
Hapsburg General Wallenstein at the Bridge of Dessau. Mansfeld retreated into
Brandenburg to plan further attacks in Silesia.
Upon hearing that his enemies were divided, Christian
of Denmark saw an opportunity. With a large army he marched south, aiming to
strike at southern Germany. For three days he held off his enemies, but he could
not reach Wolfenbuttel itself and took up a position some 20 miles away at the
village of Lutter. Following a battle in which all of his cannons and half of
his army were destroyed, and his horse was shot out from under him, Christian
of Denmark left the field and retreated further from Wolfenbuttel.
By 1641, after more than 20 years of battles, the
original commanders of the war had either been killed or were too old to take
the field. New men were now in command. In June 1641 forces gathered again at
Wolfenbuttel. This time the Swedish forces were commanded by Karl Gustav Wrangel,
a good soldier but unpopular with his men. There were rumors of a mutiny in the
Swedish army, and tough General Lenart Torstensson was dispatched to deal with
matters. He did so, reinvigorated the army and embarked on a successful campaign
against the Hapsburg forces.
Wolfenbuttel sank into oblivion once more as the
soldiers marched away, thankful to forget war and to heal its wounds. To ordinary
people it must have seemed that no matter which princely family won, no matter
which religion they were ordered to follow, they paid with their goods and their
lives while the countryside lay desolate and ruined.
The Treaty of Westphalia signed in 1648 brought
peace of a kind to Europe. However, the peace did not hold for very long, and
only a few years passed before European armies were once again on the march.
Covering many difficult miles on foot and on horseback, their trails presented
an attractive lure to wolves and other animals in search of easy prey or scavenge.
The period 1658 to 1660 saw much warfare in Scandinavia.
A few years before, King Carl X Gustav of Sweden occupied Polish lands, and in
January 1658 he launched an attack in bitterly cold weather across the ice of
the Little Belt in an attempt to take Funen in Denmark. He traveled with infantry,
cavalry and sledge-borne guns. It was reported by a French envoy that water up
to two feet deep lay on top of solid ice across the path of the horses and men.
A famous picture shows wolves following the army on this march, and in such severe
weather conditions prey must have been easy for wolves hunting and scavenging
among the baggage train and fallen horses.
The warfare ended in 1660: Sweden was considered
the victor over Norway and Denmark, which both lost territory in the final settlement.
In England, events were afoot which would have
significant effect in the eighteenth century and up to the present day. When
King Charles II of England signed a charter in 1670 creating "The Governor and
Company of Adventurers of Hudson Bay" it was only two years after the first English
ship had sailed into the area and christened it Hudson Bay. Charles had no idea
he was creating a company that would become one of the most powerful trading
organizations in North America. Nor had he any idea he was taking the first step
toward adding millions of acres to his country's domains, and that eventually
a new country would be created known to later centuries as Canada. T
he Hudson Bay Company had aristocratic investors,
headed by Charles' cousin, Prince Rupert of the Rhine (who was none other than
the son of the Winter Queen, Elizabeth). Charles and his adventurers also overlooked
a salient matter when creating the Hudson Bay Company: the fact that the land
where they proposed to conduct their trading business was already occupied. They
hoped to avoid a clash with other commercial interests by opening new trade routes,
but it must be said that that was a somewhat pious hope. Charles' signature made
inevitable the future conflict between France and England in North America.
In 1740 about 100,000 French or persons of French
descent lived in North America. During the years 1702 to 1748, in reaction to
various European wars, outbursts of violence occurred between French settlers
and English colonists along the eastern seaboard. To safeguard their possessions
in North America, the French constructed Louisberg on Isle Royale (Cape Breton
Island), a huge fortress with a garrison of 1,400 soldiers as well as naval facilities.
However, North America did not become part of any wider conflict until the outbreak
of the Seven Years War between England and France, which lasted from 1756 to
1763. Once this European war started it was not long before attention was drawn
to the clash of interests between England and France in North America. Before
the guns were silenced, French power in North America was decimated and the dream
of "New France" was dead.
The Seven Years War brought onto history's stage
a hero who was modest, unassuming, and who, like many others, died at the moment
of his greatest triumph. The soldier's name was James Wolfe, born at Westerham
in Kent in 1727. A soldier from his earliest years, he fought bravely at the
Battle of Dettingen, near Aschaffenburg in Germany, against the French. Wolfe
also took part in the Battle of Culloden during the 1745 rebellion in Scotland.
There is a story that during this battle Wolfe was ordered to execute the Scottish
chieftain of one of the clans, but he refused to do so. This was said to be the
reason why, years later, the Highland forces fought so well under his command
in Canada. There remains doubt as to whether this story is true, however there
is no doubt that the Highland forces, only 14 years after Culloden, did fight
magnificently under Wolfe and thereby continued the Highland traditions and legends
still held dear by many descendants today.
The great fortress of Louisberg eventually fell
to the assaults of General Wolfe and others, as did Fort Frontenac and Ticonderoga,
and these victories gave the British a frontage onto the Great Lakes. Late in
1758 the British took Quebec. Wolfe was killed in the battle by a sniper's bullet.
His body was brought back to England and buried in Greenwich, close by that of
his father, Edward Wolfe, also a soldier with a distinguished record, who died
the same year.
The war did not end with the fall of Quebec and
Wolfe's death; it dragged on until the Treaty of Paris was signed in 1763. That
treaty gave Britain most of the French possessions in what is now Canada, and
it ended the dream of a new French Empire in the northern regions of the New
World. On the distant horizon was the eventual birth of the Dominion of Canada.
A touch of romance as well as science and technology
combine in the story of a famous landmark off the English coast. Out in the Atlantic,
28 miles beyond Lands End, lie the Isles of Scilly, celebrated in history, folklore
and song. Between Lands End and these Isles lies the fabled lost Land of Lyonesse,
to which is attached the legend of a great cataclysm. It is a fact that within
the memory of humankind the sea swept over the land bridge, which had linked
Britain to Europe, creating the English Channel. It is possible that the disturbance
swept in from either the east or the west. It is also a fact that such low-lying
land was often submerged.
One improbable legend holds that this region off
Lands End was highly fertile and inhabited by people called Silures, who were
extremely industrious and so renowned for their piety that they had constructed
140 churches, but was destroyed in one catastrophe when the sea submerged Lyonesse.
Another legend states the cataclysm occurred when the rebel knight Mordred was
pursuing King Arthur and his knights: the sea swept over the pursuers, destroying
the land in its path. It is however historical fact that the Isles of Scilly
have been inhabited and known to traders since early times.
Those early inhabitants learned to move around
their watery world by skillfully managing frail boats. There were many rocks
and stretches of shallow water - treacherous places for sailors and ships. One
of the worst spots lay almost halfway between Lands End and the Isles of Scilly:
a dangerous patch of rocks, surrounded by deep water, over which the sea swelled
even in calm weather. For centuries this patch of rock had no known name. In
the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries the local name for this area was "Yulf" or "Wulf." Then
on a chart published by the Dutch in 1658 this dangerous patch of water appeared
as "Wolf."
The reason for the name has never been clear. It
could be that to sailors, the sharp rocks jutting from the water appeared as
dangerous as wolves' teeth. Or, according to local lore, the noise made when
air compressed by the sea was forced through a large crack beneath the surface
of the rock sounded like the howling of wolves.
The name persisted, and the area is shown as "Le
Loup" (The Wolf) on a French chart dated 1692. Later another French chart dealing
with the hazards of the English Channel referred to it as "Le Housen de Wolf." Then
for many years on English charts its name became "The Gulf Wolf." In the years
1798 to 1802 it was known variously as "Wolf Rock" or "Le Loup," but by 1825
all the mapmakers appear to have agreed on the name "Wolf Rock" and by that name
it has been known ever since.
Between 1791 and 1850 various beacons were built
on the rock to warn ships of its danger. During the years 1791 to 1795, notable
attempts were made by Lt. Henry Smith to install a permanent light, but to no
avail. Later a bronze model of a wolf was cast and taken out to the rock where,
once again, attempts to place it in position failed. These failures were due
to the exposed position of Wolf Rock, facing the wide-open Atlantic and the full
fury of its often-stormy seas.
When the first permanent beacon was erected in
1840 it became, and still is, one of the lights which "stand watch in salt water," meaning
that the lighthouse and its base are built directly on the seabed rather than
dry land. Even while marked with a beacon, Wolf Rock still exacted its toll on
ships and sailors. In 1855 the French ship "Railluer" met its end. In 1856 Wolf
Rock claimed the Cornish vessel "Mentor," and in 1861 the Prussian ship "Astrea" came
to grief there.
The Brethren of Trinity House, the organization
responsible for the erection and maintenance of beacons and lighthouses along
the British coast, decided to build a lighthouse on Wolf Rock. During1861, surveys
were completed and plans were drawn. Construction commenced a year later, and
proved challenging, to say the least. In the first year only 22 ship landings
were possible, and the work proceeded slowly in the inclement weather. Stone
blocks were prepared and fitted together in Penzance, approximately 20 miles
distant, then shipped and unloaded on the rock. For the lighthouse base more
than 1,000 tons of rock were used, plus 3,300 tons of granite for the tower.
A delightful story from the building of the lighthouse
deserves to be mentioned. During construction of the base, an American visitor
landed to watch work in progress. He was most impressed and asked if he might
leave a memento. The construction crew agreed. The visitor removed a rose from
his buttonhole, wrapped it in a dollar bill and laid them both in the foundation.
And beneath the tower of Wolf Rock Lighthouse this memento of America is said
to remain.
Construction of the 116-foot tower was finally
completed after eight years, in July 1869. It was not until January 1870 that
the first light flashed out from Wolf Rock. Since then, "The Wolf," as it is
sometimes affectionately known, has in peace and war stood its watch, giving
warning to ships and sailors of all nations that Wolf Rock's sharp teeth are
near.
Wolf Rock recorded some notable occasions since
1870. During World War II, Wolf Rock claimed another victim, a German U-boat.
In February 1948, in the teeth of a roaring Atlantic gale, the lighthouse received
one of the earliest "drops" by helicopter from Culdrose Naval Air Station in
Cornwall. Two thousand pounds of provisions and supplies were dropped to the
keepers, because weather conditions made it impossible to either supply them
by any other means or evacuate them.
Wolf Rock Lighthouse was electrified in 1955, and
in 1973 became the first rock-based lighthouse to have its own helicopter pad
installed above its light. In June 1987 the last keepers moved out, and in 1988
its operation was completely automated. So it stands today, the storm-tossed
lone Wolf, facing the full fury of the Atlantic Ocean, bravely sending out a
warning from its brilliant eye.
Throughout the centuries to call someone a "wolf" has
on most occasions been regarded as an insult. At a few times such an insult may
bring forth good far beyond the imagination of those who hurled the insult. Such
an instance is connected with the Crimean War. This war between Britain, France
and Russia, fought from 1854 to 1856, centered on Russia's desire for a year-round
ice-free port. The powers in control of Russia at the time felt the best way
to accomplish this was to capture Constantinople (now Istanbul), and thus gain
access to the Mediterranean.
The Crimean War should be remembered for the enormity
of the casualties the combatants inflicted upon each other in battles such as
Alma, Balaclava (including the famous Charge of the Light Brigade), Inkerman,
the siege of Sebastopol and Tchernaya. In those days medical services for the
wounded and sick troops were virtually non-existent, and what medical attention
was available was extremely primitive. The French army had the best medical services;
the British army lagged far behind. A basic medical service was staffed by Chelsea
pensioners; old retired soldiers sent out to look after the wounded men. Knowledge
of medicine does not seem to have been a prerequisite to perform this service.
One cynic wondered:
" …whether
it was a scheme for saving money by utilizing the poor
old men or shortening the duration of their lives and pensions…."
In
such conditions it is no wonder the wounded and sick literally
died like flies.
In Britain, news of the terrible conditions for
those soldiers was blazoned all over the newspapers. That coverage in itself
was a new turn of events, for the Crimean War was one of the earliest wars to
be covered by an accredited war correspondent from a highly reputable newspaper,
in this case The Times of London. William Howard Russell was the Times' special
correspondent to the war; his reports were very critical of the British army
hierarchy, and the officers did not like him or his writing.
In addition to his reports on the outcome of battles
and the heroism of individuals, Russell was particularly scathing about the treatment
of casualties. His editor, John Delane, soon realized the value of these eyewitness
reports and added his voice in biting editorials. He attacked those who were "sitting
by the firesides devouring the morning paper in luxurious solitude" and who regarded
the war as an "amusing spectacle" while other "poor fellows are going through
innumerable hardships to bite the dust at last in mortal agony."
As many of his readers were members of the Establishment,
the very cream of British society, Delane received much criticism. However, he
did not stop his accusations against the "do nothings" who sat safely at home.
In one editorial he stated:
"Soldiers
and sailors are not the savage murderous ravaging creatures
they are sometimes imagined…. Till they are dying
of hunger and thirst, or have seen their comrades falling
all around them, they are the merest sheep…. The
wolves are those who stay at home, blow up angry passions
of war and feed its perpetual resentments."
An
avalanche of mail descended on The Times' offices: letters
from those who were outraged at the lack of care for soldiers
so far from home, screams of outrage at descriptions of the
stay-at-homes, (those Delane had termed "wolves"), letters
containing donations, and suggestions for raising more funds.
A woman who signed herself "A sufferer by the present war" suggested
that it was women who should be sent out to nurse the wounded
and sick. She wrote:
"There
are numbers of able-bodied and tender hearted Englishwomen
who would joyfully and with alacrity go out to devote themselves
to nursing the sick and wounded."
And
one woman heard this call. She had been trying to obtain
permission to go to the Crimea and do exactly as the writer
suggested. Her name was Florence Nightingale, and she offered
her services. By October 1854, Miss Nightingale had recruited
her first 38 nurses and they set off for Scutari to establish
the first military hospital with the full support of the
British War Office.
The conditions Florence Nightingale and her nurses
found at Scutari were horrifying, and the means they brought to combat those
conditions would be regarded, in our present state of medical knowledge, as primitive.
But there were no antibiotics or penicillin in those days, and even the knowledge
of the use of disinfectants was limited. Miss Nightingale's nurses did ensure
that many of the sick and wounded men were cared for in clean and tolerable conditions.
Without doubt the immense casualties of the Crimean War would have been much
worse had the nurses not been there.
From the unlikely combination of Russian ambition,
enormous casualties, accurate reporting by war correspondents, the use of the
epithet and image of wolves, and the dedication of a noble band of women led
by Florence Nightingale, came great good. Professional nursing services have
ever since provided proper care for those who are taken sick or wounded while
serving in the armed forces of their country.
The Boer war is well remembered, and in both South
Africa and Britain even now it is recalled with bitterness. It commenced in October
1899, after years of threatening clashes, skirmishes and fruitless talks between
Boers, Britons and Uitlanders (South Africans who were not of Boer or Dutch extraction).
The Boer war saw three notable sieges of what were then small bush towns: Ladysmith
in Natal, Kimberley in the Transvaal - rich in diamonds and gold, and Mafeking
in the part of the Cape Province known as Far North Cape. The siege of Mafeking
is the most famous.
The Boer war was fought because each of the two
Caucasian communities wanted to dominate the other. The Boers saw it as a fight
for freedom, while the British and Uitlanders saw it as a fight for equality.
The rights and interests of the native peoples living in southern Africa were
of no interest to the armies, and received no consideration at all. Money, land,
gold and diamonds loomed large in the eyes of the combatants.
Although small in size, Mafeking - meaning "place
of stones" - was an important railway center. It controlled the approach to Rhodesia
(now Zimbabwe) and the administrative center for Bechuanaland. By besieging Mafeking,
the Boers cut road and rail communications to Rhodesia.
The British commander at Mafeking was Robert Stephenson
Smyth Baden-Powell. A lieutenant colonel in the Dragoons, son of an eminent Oxford
family, he had arrived in the country the previous July. Baden-Powell was an
energetic and inspirational commander, but in Mafeking he had little material
to work with and several disadvantages. He had with him a number of Colonial
irregular soldiers, but he never had more than 600 men to defend the town's perimeter,
and few of them were trained. There were 1,500 Caucasian citizens, including
women and children, plus 5,000 native people from the Barolong tribe at the city.
Baden-Powell had few guns, but he constructed a
series of trenches and forts, built underground bombproof shelters, organized
food supplies and protected water wells. Manpower was always short and at times
Africans were recruited into local civil defense. Baden-Powell knew he could
not afford a major battle with the Boers, especially knowing they had captured
his supply train, the Mosquito, shortly after the siege commenced.
Skirmishes and raids in the first three months
left Baden-Powell with honors, and spirits were high in the town. The Boers were
surprised at such verve and élan in the besieged garrison. It could not,
and did not, last. In January 1900, morale fell and food supplies ran low. How
much longer could Mafeking hold out, people asked?
Baden-Powell set about the daunting task of raising
morale. Civilians were ordered to organize baby shows, gymkhanas and horse races.
He issued stamps and paper money. A workshop was pressed into service to turn
anything remotely useful into weapons. As a piece-de-resistance, designed to
depress the spirits of the Boers and raise those of his own garrison, Baden-Powell
urged his armorers to construct a special gun. They did, and named it "The Wolf." It
was something of an ingenious hodge-podge of construction, but it worked.
"The Wolf" was a 6-inch gun made of a 4-inch piece
of steel, part of a threshing machine and a breech cast in the town's foundry.
Nevertheless, by the skill of the engineers and gunners, "The Wolf" could fire
an 18-pound shell 4,000 yards. The besieged garrison made good use of "The Wolf."
The siege dragged on, through March and April. "The
Wolf" continued to function well in defending the city. In the meantime, back
in Britain the siege became the nation's number one priority, and reinforcements
finally arrived in May. Shortly thereafter the Boer line collapsed and the forces
withdrew.
The final fate of "The Wolf" remains unknown. Perhaps
it was melted down and its metal went into other armaments. Specifically why
it was called "The Wolf" also remains a mystery.
Baden-Powell himself had done a magnificent job
in holding on to the little town against overwhelming odds. His fighters' resistance
had kept as many as 10,000 Boers occupied during the earliest and most critical
months of the war. Never less than 2,000 were camped outside Mafeking during
the seven months of the siege. Baden-Powell's own losses were relatively light:
35 killed, 101 wounded and 27 taken prisoner.
Baden-Powell himself went on to lasting fame as
the founder of the Boy Scout movement, the junior branch of which are "Wolf Cubs" lead
by Arkela - the lone wolf. Baden-Powell died in Kenya in 1941, at the age of
84.
It can therefore be shown that in the years between
1600 and 1900, on the shores of Ireland and England, in France, Germany, Italy,
Austria and Scandinavia, and to the far reaches of Canada and South Africa, the
image of the wolf was used in various forms by mankind in the pursuit of his
enemies. At times the image was no more than a warning, even a gentle perception,
on other occasions it was a fierce emblem, the very epitome of war itself. Sometimes
it was used to depict a courageous or noble character or deed, sometimes the
reverse. But whichever measure is used, the image and perception of the wolf
remained with and was important to our forebears all over the world who lived
during that tumultuous time.
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