The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1885-04-11 00:00:00

THE NARRATIVE OF THE WAR.

DESTRUCTION OF OSMAN DIGNA'S
STRONGHOLD,

The news from the seat of war at the close of last
week was meagre and uninteresting, the only matter
worthy of record being the advance of General
Graham's column from Souakim to the zereba on the
road to Tamai. On Saturday the London papers all
gave detailed accounts of the march and the opera-
tions against Tamai. The special correspondent of
the Standard wrote: It was a lovely moonlight morn-
ing when the reveille sounded at two o'clock a.m.
yesterday (Thursday). The troops turned out very
rapidly, but the start was delayed for some time
owing to the difficulty in getting into marching order
the great convoy, which consisted of a thousand
camels and more than fifteen hundred mules, laden
for the most part with water. It was conse-
quently nearly four o'clock before the column got
into motion, formed in a great square round the
transport. Mae force consisted of the Scots Fusilier
Guards, the Coldstreams, the Australians, Marines,
the 53rd (the Shropshire), the 70th (East Surrey), the
15th Sikhs, and the 28th Bombay Infantry. The sight
was very picturesque in the moonlight, aided now by the '
first dawn of day, as the great square, its centre
crowded with animals, was seen making its way
slowly through the dense bush. The work became
more easy as the day broadened out, but it was not
until nine o'clock that we reached the zereba. Here
there was a halt for an hour for breakfast; then the
troops prepared for a fresh start. The 28th Bombay
Infantry took charge of the zerebas, relieving the
Grenadier Guards, Naval Brigade, and the 49th (the
Berkshire), who fell in with the square as it started
on its march for Tamai. The weather was magni-
ficent, and a pleasant breeze relieved the effect of the
fierceness of the sun overhead. The cavalry scouts
extended across our front, and far away to the right
and left, but no sign of the enemy were to be seen,
save a body of about 100 camels moving along the
hillside on our right. We reached the foot of the
Teselah Hills, a group of detached crags overlooking
the Tamai valley, an hour before sunset. There we
belied, and the Mounted infantry pushed on to
Tamai, which they found to be deserted by the
enemy. A few shots were fired at them by small
parties of the enemy scattered on the hillsides at a
distance, but at too great a range to take effect. In
the meantime, the infantry were preparing to rest for
the night. The ground upon which they were to
bivouac was a hollow between the Teselah Hills, and
was almost the same as that which General Graham's
force occupied last year before it advanced to the
assault of Osman Digna's force. The hills were taken
possessionof by a half battalion of the Grenadiers,
with some guns, and the rest of the force began at
once to cut down bushes to form a zereba. The even-
ing passed off quietly, and the troops, who had been
on their feet nearly twenty hours, were sleeping
soundly when towards midnight they were aroused by
a dropping fire being opened upon them by small
parties of the enemy. Distant as the fire was, it was
by no means ineffective. The bullets pattered into
the great enclosure, killing one man and wounding
two others, and killing several of the transport
animals. The Grenadiers on the heights above at
once began firing volleys at the enemy, and the artil-
lery burst two or three well-aimed shrapnel shells
over their heads, whereupon they at once decamped,
and we were not again disturbed.
At sunrise this (Friday) morning the bugle
sounded, and the force prepared to move forward.
In a short time they were joined by the cavalry,
which had returned last night to sleep at the first
zereba. The 70th, 53rd, and Naval Brigade remained
to guard the post, and the great proportion of the
transport animals, and the column, which now
numbered some seven thousand bayonets, then
moved out towards Tamed. The formation now
adopted for the advance was that suggested by
General Hudson, who commanded the Australians,
and who had used it in the Sutlej campaign, where it
proved admirably adapted for hill fighting. The
chief feature consisted of deploying from the rear.
The 49th in line were the front force of the forma-
tion, with the Marines on their right flank, the
15th Sikhs on their left. In the intervals on
either flanks were two companies of the Guards.
The Brigade of Guards came next in open column
of companies, the Grenadiers on the right, the Scots
Guards in the centre, and the Australians on the
left. The Coldstream Guards were in rear, march-
ing in quarter column of companies. They were
flanked by the Madras Sappers and Miners. Six
guns of the Royal Horse Artillery were out on
the right flank, the mule and rocket batteries on
the left. Tamai consists of a group of five villages,
with the wells in the centre. The two villages on the
right of the line by which we were advancing are
waterless, and these had been abandoned by the
enemy. In those on the left, however, parties of
Arabs could be seen moving, and against them the
column advanced, deploying for 'attack. The Horse
Artillery mounted some high ground to the right and
prepared to open fire, while the mule battery and the
rocket battery were held in reserve at the foot of the
slope. The ground over which the men advanced was
as rough and broken as can well be imagined. It was
free from bush, but was intersected with deep gullies,
and studded with jutting rocks and huge boulders.
Over this broken ground the troops made their way
quietly and steadily, managing to preserve their forma-
tion and keep their places in the line with admirable
precision, considering the extraordinary difficulties of
the ground. Every man was on the qui vive, for at
any moment the enemy might leap out from the deep
gullies and hurl themselves upon us, as they did last
year. But, save that from the ridges on the opposite
side of the valley some two hundred Arabs armed
with rifles kept up a discharge at a range of about
a thousand yards, no signs of the enemy were
visible. The troops on that flank returned their fire
briskly, but the foe lurking among the rocks afforded
but a doubtful mark, while our dense bodies of troops
were an easy target for them, and several casualties
occurred in our ranks. It was just ten o'clock when
we reached Tamai. The Tillages were deserted by
the enemy on our approach, without a shot being
fired in their defence. The first and most important
point was to ascertain the state of the wells. The
result of the examination was most disappointing.
Not only were they found to be newly filled up, which,
indeed, had been expected, but on their being sounded
it was found that the water was practically exhausted.
It is probable that this failure of the water supply
has had much to do with the disappearance of Osman
Digna's forces. Last year we found, after our victory,
a fair supply of water in the wells, but the battle was
fought three weeks earlier than our present advance,
and the wells may have been dry at this date. Large
as was our convoy, it had brought out but three days'
water supply for the whole force, and this failure
of the wells at Tamai determined General Graham
to abandon his intention of advancing against
Tamanieb, for were the wells there found also to be
waterless, the position of the force would be serious,
and very great suffering would have to be endured on
our march back to the coast. The order of the
return march was the reverse of that in which we
had advanced. The artillery halted occasionally and
shelled the Arabs on the hills. The cavalry, before
they followed us, set fire to the villages of Tamai.
The mounted infantry, moving upon the left of the
column, came upon a small party of some 50 men,
who were actually attempting to turn the flank of an
army 8000 strong. A few shots dispersed them, but
as they moved off firing, one of the mounted infantry,
a man of the Berkshire Regiment, was killed. The
other casualties during the day amounted to 12
wounded: Lieut. Lalor of the Marines, two men of
the Scots Fusiliers, three Australians, one Grenadier,
one Coldstream, one Marine,and two Mounted Infantry.
As we fell back it was curious to see the handful of
Arabs making their way, parallel with our march, on the
distant hills to our right, running from rock to rock
like rabbits, and keeping up a constant fire upon the
column of 8000 picked troops of the British army.
Thus owing to this unfortunate failure of water at
the critical moment, the whole course of the cam-
paign has been arrested. It may be that Osman
Digna would have fallen back from Tamanieb at our
approach as he did from Tamai; still it would have
been a satisfaction to every man in the force
could we have occupied that village also. It
would, however, in any case, have been impos-
sible to follow him among the hills. It is a
severe disappointment to the troops that, after their
immense exertions, after the efforts of the transport
in preparing for the advance, the marches in the
blazing sun to and from the zerebas, the heavy loss
i of life n the previous engagements, to say nothing of
the enormous cost of the expedition, the enemy
should refuse to await our attack, and that the want
of water should prevent our following him up. The
temporary occupation of a wretched village is a
poor result to show after such labour, effort, and
suffering.
The Daily Chronicle correspondent wrote: Before
leaving orders were given to set fire to the miserable
huts of Tamai as an unmistakable memento of our
visit. The work was done thoroughly, and before we
reached Teselah Hill the famous village of Tamai
must have been marked solely by a few smouldering
ruins.
The following are the official telegrams sent from
the War Office:
From Lieutenant-General Sir G. Graham to the
Secretary of State for War.
SOIIAXIM, Saturday, 11.50 a.m.
Troops began return march from Teselah zereba at
2 15 p.m. yesterday, and arrived at No. 1 zereba at
5 50 p.m. General Fremantle reports everything
most satisfactory. They are now marching back, and
will be hero with convoy about noon. I 'consider that
the troops of all arms deserve very great credit for
the way in which they have borne the fatigues of these
two days and for their readiness in constructing a
zereba at end of long march on arrival at Teselah
Hill; also for their steadiness and good discipline
when under fire during the night and the following
morning at the Tamai springs. The Australian con-
tingent have cheerfully borne their share of our hard-
ships, and showed themselves worthy comrades in
arms. I regret that they have had two men wounded.
SOUAKIM, Friday, 8.35 P.M.
Casualties during operations at Tamai this morning:
Killed—lst Battalion Berkshire Regiment, 818(? 18)
Private Alfred Reeves. Wounded.—Officer: Lieu-
tenant J. N. Lalor, Royal Marines, severely. Grena-
dier Guards: 88 (?) Private R. Smith, slightly.
Coldstream Guards: Sergeant Butiler, severely;
I Private Sandbrooke, severely. Scots Guards: 5676

Private J. Taylor; Private D. Hammond, slightly.
Ist Battalion Berkshire Regiment: Sergeant E.
Miggint, severely. New South Wales Contingent:
191 Private W. Harrison, slightly; 27 Private F.
Downing, severely. Mounted Infantry: Corporal
Muran, slightly.
Telegraphing from Souakim on Monday the
Standard correspondent says: This morning, in
accordance with the programme arranged, the Cold-
stream Guards and Australians marched out five
miles in the direction of Handoub, to build a forti-
fied zereba, and a strong permanent block-house with
timber and sandbags. The railway work is to-day
being energetically carried on, the difficulty which
arose with the navvies on Saturday with respect to
passing their accounts having been arranged. Messrs.
Lucas and Aird are much hampered by the
exigences of the Commissariat and Transport
Department, which, though unavoidable in ' the
interests of the Expedition, have greatly
delayed the landing of the railway plant,
the piers, rolling stock, and workmen being frequently
requisitioned for military purposes. The contractors
are confident, however, that they will now be able to
push on the line as fast as the Army can move for-
ward. The intended Cavalry reconnaissance to
Handoub this morning has been abandoned, as it was
found that a day's rest was absolutely necessary for
the horses after the severe work they have been
undergoing. During the last fortnight they have been
afoot for an average of fourteen hours a day.
The advance to Handoub will be made on
Wednesday. The present intention at Head-
quarters is to push straight on along the Berber road,
building fortified zerebas and block-houses every five
miles. The road will go through Wady Otau and
Tainbrook, on to Es Sibil, fifty miles from Souakim.
Es Sibil stands upon a very elevated plateau, and here
summer Quarters for the troops will be established.
Hence, should the step be deemed necessary, it will
be easy to occupy Sinkat, as the plateau is open, and
rises gradually from Es Sibil to the hill on which
Sinkat is situated. Whether the whole force will
remain on the plateau during the summer months
will probably depend much upon the attitude of the
tribes. The accounts of our spies, and of the Arabs
who are now arriving in our camp from the hills,
agree in confirming the reports that Osman Digna
has fled to the ridge between Erkowit and Sinkat
with a few hundred of the most fanatical of his
adherents. The rest of his followers have all dis-
persed. Osman's son, a boy of ten years old, who
was sent by his father to encourage the Arabs in their
attacks upon our convoys on the 24th and 25th ult.,
was shot in the fight with the Coldstreams and
Marines. The total loss of the tribesmen in the varions
engagements amounted to fully four thousand.
It is expected that many of the tribes will
give in their submission as the expedition makes its
way inland; but the troops will probably be harassed
by attacks by small bodies of fanatics. The zerebas
on the plain have been entirely evacuated to-day.
Last night the party there were fired into for three
hours by a small body of the enemy. 6 Native Indian
officer was wounded. A few shots have this morning
been fired from long distances at the Coldstreams and
Australians as they marched out across the bush.

A few shots were fired into the zerena from the
Handoub road on Monday night, but no casualties
resulted. On Tuesday the Scots Guards escorted a
large convoy to No. I station. The troops are clear-
ing a wide road through the bush from the station
towards Handoub, to which place General Graham
and his staff proceeded on Wednesday.