The Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1877-1885, 1882-09-18


| them from a position about 600 yards
south of the canal The English were TAX
en- by surprise, the lnounted infantry hav-
| ing some difficulty IN maintaining their
ground, but they very soon rallied and re
| turned the Are. It was at this point 1hat
| / arrived on the scene, and as the sun was
| Just above the horizon could distinctly
| see what was going on. The Egyptian in
| fantry-whieh I have since heard was un-
der Mahmud Samy Pasha, highly educa-
| ted officer-could not stand the heavy and
| accurate firing of the York and Lancaster
| regiment, besides which half the House
hold cavalry, which had hitherto remained
! stationary at El-Magphar, rushed on to
them and they were forced to retire towards
| their sheltered position near Mahuta.
| Here they were reinforced with a powerful
contingent of infantry and cavalry, and
| they not only checked the British advance
| but actually drove the York and Lancas-
ter regiment back to the Magphar palm
trees, where they were glad to take shelter
from the heavy fire of the defenders and
| from the broiling sun, and where they
were soon joined by the Household cayal-
ry, who were retreating in good order be-
fore the Egyptians. The heat of the sun
was dreadful, and compare it to nothing
but standing directly in front of furnace;
of the sun had an awful effect upon the
eyes. The English had had nothing to
eat since the day before, and although
message after message was sent for pro-
visions none appeared till late that night,
and then only through the energy OF the
sailors, who very pluckily dragged boat
of stores through the shallow waters of the
canal AS foresaw in my last, the transport
and commissariat have thoroughly broken
down, and would rather be anything than
British soldier just now. And as to the
medical and army hospital corps, L viii
only say that wounded men remained on
the field for hours, roasting-yes, roasting
and begging of the Egyptians to kin
them and thus put an end to their miseries.
1t was now midday and the position of the
English was becoming serious. The Arabs
were stronger than they had anticipated
and were stin being reinforced, train after
train arriving at Mahuta. The British
horses had only been landed a few days
and their appearance after a few hours
work in the sand was a sight most pitiful
Sir Garnet, who with his staff was, with
out my knowing it, at the village of Mag
phar, directly in front of me, Row rode out
to where the horse artillery were bravely
working their three guns, and no sooner
had he reached the spot than the enemy,
attracted by the gay uniforms of his staff
no doubt, sent shell after shell with such
precision among them that five of the
horses belonging to the guns were killed
and an artilleryman was blown to pieces.
General Wolseley evidently knew that
everything now depended upon these guns,
and was encouraging the WORKOUT men,
while aide-de-cam after aide -de-camp was
despatched to hurry up the reinforcements.
A consultation was held between Sir Gar
net Wolseley, General Willis and their re-
spective stats, in which Willis advised
that the army should retire behind Ell
Magphar. where there was some protection,
but Wolseley, who thought achievements
would soon arrive, determined to stay
where he was The infantry were SO ex-
hausUed that the men laid down in the
trenches, under the trees and in the canal, |
few at a time coming up, firing at the
Egyptians, and again taking shelter. Moth |
ing the officers could do would rally the
men; indeed, the poor officers were quite
as helpless as the men. The Calling guns
were admirably worked by the marines |
from the other side of the canal. and these, |
with the mounted infantry (on native |
horsesl and the three guns of the Horse
Artillery, saved the English position. |
was astonished that the Arabs did not |
advance with little more determination,
for had they done so the British defeat |
would have been complete. | have since |
heard that Arab Pasha, who is at Tel-el- |
Kebir, had ordered that on no account was |
an advance to be made beyond Ramses, as |
he was afraid of exposing his men to the |
combined action of the British forces, the |
remainder of which he had reasonably ex-
pected would be up to the front by this |
time. Had lie known that through hun |
ger, heat and fatigue, the English reinforce |
ments had broken down in their march and |
were at his mercy, it is reasonable to sur
mise that he would have acted differently. |
The fame of British soldiers was, have |
no doubt, saved on Thursday by handful |
of men under lieutenant, with three |
guns. Considering the heavy fire the
English were exposed to, the list of killed, |
wounded and missing is not heavy, not |
amounting to over $50 in all. There are,
however over eighty cases of sunstroke |
and a mysterious disappearance of Lieu |
tenant Gribble and seven of his men. |
About an hour after dark regiment upon |
regiment of British troops of all arms came
pouring in, the Guards, commanded by |
Prince Arthur, being the first to arrive,
although they were the last to leave Ismai-
liza. Heavy artillery was placed in posi- /
ton and commenced firing. The Prince |
collected his men and moved TO the front, 1
but it was too late, as Mahmud Samy Pasha I
wisely Withdrew to Mahuta without leaving
a single dead or wounded man ON the field. |
This was the first battle of any consequence
and the Epvptians on the whole behaved