The Express.
London, England, 1868-05-18 00:00:00

II Plllll.l/UIII

EVERY EVENING.

LONDON, MONDAY, MAY 18.

THE AItYSS/N/.4N VICTORY.

Tea correspondence which we publish to-day
will enable our readers to picture the final scenes ,
of the Abyssinian expedition. Another striking
chapter has been added to military history. Great
in almost all the arts of war and of peace, England ,
has not always been great in the organisation of
expeditions. She has generally passed through
failures and impatience to conclusive success. Not
a few persons feared that in Abyssinia we might ,
memorize another Walcheren. The valour of our
soldiery has never failed ; but the skill of our ,
commanders has sometimes been unequal to the
effective use of the splendid materials placed in ,
their hands. When, as in the Peninsula, the
general and the men have been worthy of each other,
stupidity and perverseness at home have marred
the effect of consummate military genius and un-
daunted courage abroad. A Barsseasrand aLnna-
root. who could do little to aid Wiumworow, except
by leaving him alone, could do everything to foil
him by fussy and unintelligent meddling. These
incompetent Secretaries fought on NAPOLLON'S side
in the Peninsula; and if that great master of the
art of war counted WELLIRCSON as equivalent to a
forte of 10,000 men against him, he might
count the British Cabinet as an equal addition of
strength to his armies. In Abyssinia, none of
these elements of failure have existed. The
sneering comment of French military cri-
ticism, which designated the British forces
in the Crimea as "lions led by asses,"
cannot be revived even by calumny in regard to
this latest triumph of British arms. The defeat
of Tut:omits and the capture of Magdala have been
less a soldiers' than a general's victory. A mono-
poly of credit where everything, with a single
apparent exception, was well done that any one
had to do, would be unjust, and would be more
distasteful probably to the hero of the expedition
than to others. But while Sir Rower NAPIER
was well-seconded by the departments at home,
by the authorities in India, and by the officers and
men whom he had with him—the initiative, the
organisation, the design, and the execution, the
undivided responsibility and with it the chief
praise, belong to him. In the art of war, mere
lighting is coining now to hold a secondary place.

The victory over the Abyssinian trop lLin the
field can scarcely count for more Mu the
and slaughter of German, Gallic, or
barbarians by the disciplined legiogAof
Rome. The real conquest which Sir
Navies has gained has been Is colipieet

over THEODORE'S natural allies than ow.
self and his army. It has been a victory over
climate and distance—over rain and mud—over
difficult and scarcely accessible mountain passes
and ravines—over bad roads and slack means
of communication—over fatigue, and hunger,
and thirst ; and, in one case, over mis-
understanding and blundering, which might,
at the last and critical moment, have un-
done all the wise and e ireful preparations of
months, and, fur a time, at least, transferred
the victory to the barbarian enemy.
By a curious coincidence, which seems like the
silent irony of history, many of the great battles of
the world have been fought upon days sacred
in the religion of peace and good-will. It was on
the morning of Good Friday that the British army,
which had been encamped during the night in
a bit of ploughed land on the heights of Wadela,
began the descent into the valley of the Bashilo.
The night had been as miserable, with mud and
rain, as that which preceded the battle of Agin-
court. The army made a show which would have
disgusted a martinet on parade day ; and, if it
could, by any second sight, have been presented
to the eyes of the home-stayers who about the
same time were witnessing reviews at Ports-
mouth or Aldershot, the contrast between the
grim reality of war and its gay coun-
terfeit would have been complete. As with
the older heroes, who fought on Cardis's day,
they were " but we/ilex' for the working day ;
" their gayness and their gilt were all besmirch'd
" with rainy marching in the painful field, and
" time had worn them into slovenry ;" only "their
" hearts were in the war." The ravine of crumb-
ling basalt down which their path lay
had opposed few difficulties in the way
of THEODORE'S engineers, who had made the road
trim which the invading force used. By eight o'clock
the first brigade, under Sir CHARLES Sreveter, had
reached the bottom of the valley. Tho river,
swollen by the rains, had been converted from a
narrow thread of water into a stream a hundred or
a 'mind red and tifty,feet wide. " The tawn y and turgid
" water," as one correspondent describes it, me/td
fin en:, cored —had a depth now of three or foie feet.
More gaily than C.ESAit'S soldiers leaped into the
surf on the British shore, the first brigade
"tarried not in their breeches," but giving
themselves for the nonce the aspect of a High-
land regiment, and carrying their precious nether
coverings in their hands, waded merrily across.
The difficulties of the march then began. A
six hours' ascent, amid loose stones and pointed
rock, thick jungle and thorny bushes, led to the
summit of the mountain. Before advancing with
the baggage, ammunition, and mountain batteries,
Sir ROBERT NAPIER had sent Colonel PHAYKE
to the front with a sufficient force of pio•
neers, sappers, and miners, to turn the ravine
and hold the head of the pass, in order
that the encampment where the army was to rest
for the night before opening fire on Magdala might
be securely taken up. This order appears to have
been misunderstood. At all events, it was
not properly executed. Colonel PHAYRE ap-
pears, like Fateriar, to have led his rascals where
they might be peppered ; and to have taken up
a position which left the ravine exposed fur two
miles to a sally from Msgdala, and to have sat
down under the very walla of the outwork of
Fahla. THEODORE saw the blunder and strove to
turn it to account. His guns commanded the road ;
and no sooner did the baggage column appear at
the head of the ravine than the fire was opened,
and four thousand Abyssinians, horsemen and
footmen, armed with muskets and with spears,
rushed down the slope, and charged up
the hill at the head of the ravine, on which
the mountain train had taken up its position. A
thundering cheer greeted them. The 4th King's Own
charged at the double to meet them ; the pioneers
opened a steady fire, the rockets of the Naval
Brigade and the guns of Colonel PENN'S division
began their devastating work. The seven companies
present were speedily brought on the ground in
skirmishing order ; the Abyssinians vainly at-
tempted to turn the right flank of the line. They
fled in confusion. The slaughter became a butchery.
It is well to do justice even to* vanquished enemy.
Gallantry and courage were not wanting to the
barbarians. Round the person of THEODORE'S com-
mander-in-chief, conspicuous by his gay dress, the
thick of the fight raged. When he was slain the
contest became a struggle for the possession of his
body ; and when he had fallen seven of his chieftains
were found dead by the side of him whom they had
failed to rescue. The theme might be celebrated in
a Homeric rhapsody or • ballad of Chevy Chase.
The battle of A rogee decided the fate of the expedi-
tion and of the prisoners. After their delivery, the
only question was whether Magdala should be peace-
fully ceded and destroyed, or taken by storm. THEO-
Dow' preferred to die as a soldier rather than live
a captive. We need not repeat here the story
which is told elsewhere. The joy of the released
prisoners, the triumph of the soldiers, in a
war which was essentially one of humanity
and national honour, will be echoed by all
their countrymen. Nothing now remains to be
done with Abyssinia except to leave it. The
returning troops and their great commander have
only to prepare themselves fora welcome in Eng-
land which will thrill them with a pride and
satisfaction not less than that which they felt
when Magdala was then 5, and the last fetter was
struck off the last prisoner.

lii ground _
hours later the royal sufferer was placed on a
litter, and borne by the men of the Galatea and
Charybdis to the deck of the Morpeth, and from
thence to the Galatea. There was considerable
pain, but no unfavourable symptoms from the first;
the ball was extracted without difficulty on the
Saturday rimming, and on the 17th the patient was
sufficiently recovered to write a letter. Two days
later the following general answer was returned to
the numerous addresses of sympathy and indigna-
tion :

Government House, Sydney, March 19, 1868.

I have received with sincere gratification these nu-
merous addresses, and desire to return my warm thanks
for the expressions of sympathy which they contain.
The cowardly act of one individual has not in any
degree shaken my confidence in tho loyalty of the people
of this colony towards the throne and person of her
Majesty, or in their affection for myself ; and I shall
gladly convey to the Queen the universal expression of
horror sad Indignation which the attempt to assaaeinate
me has called forth from her Majesty's faithful subjects in
Australia. A LFab:D.

The assassin O'FARRELL is 33 years of age, and,
though the son of a butcher colonist, has only been
in Sydney since Christmas, and his friends are pre-
pared to defend him on the ground of insanity.
After attempting three times to shoot Sir WILLIAM
MANNING, who at once sprang forward to seize
hint, he attempted to shoot the coachmaker Mr.
VIA/L, who had pinioned him from behind. Finding
this impossible he aimed another shot at the pros-
trate Prince, which happily missed ita object but
hit an elderly gentleman, Mr. GEORGE Tuoime, in
the foot. This gentleman fainted and was carried
off, while determined attempts were made to lynch
the assassin. " Hang hint !" " String him up !"
was shouted on all sides, and it was only the
determined stand made by the police which saved
him from the popular fury.

from
sad

THE EXPRESS. MONDAY EVE I G, MAY 18,
the ope silently fell back, and formed a complete cordon ClTlttl.
lie rou some thirty - yards ,_. 4 t• w. ' ei Jr- ~. ' 2 k
. : I , I•I R C •
...
British rifled. and Marfa, y . . dr •4:s; ' 1419
' A 6.
;suneosi
ifteient vdricril, Meanw the wit . j Mirme. • .
won •• . I
morning
bgya000,:i......<,„
.........
7
ROBE said, " Toll thEileople I mot .. i I;1a. 1 tr PlNvesita:sia. .'' vs out YeeleravY • sad
- ..
et rath '" be bitter litisentig and .
..... .
vet him- his willasticns nil being ias being •' we Princess Louise arrived at the Oastie this morning from
nry over " lifted from the ground by a halloo."
_Three Loam. idie,ded by Lady candide audio= sad
__ ..