The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1882-10-26
\ MODERN WATERLOO.
THE BRITISH At rEL.EL.kEBlR,
Fl =. 1t rIiEbhEf n
An Eye'WltneN' Account Of The BATTLE that Broke
the backbone Or Atabl's Rtbtliiou-A Thrill.
Of. inx Narrative ofths Charge or the Bri..
hh-Scents on tho Battlefield,

-" ~ "'"Ss "tssS"s" W. oAtue AuAt hoA'
the uaelbous Or Atabis Rtbtlllon-A Thrill.
iHr Narrative ofths Charge OF the Brit.
kh-Scents on tho Battlefield.
LONDON, October 25.-In tho .fofIowin,
lively bit OF correspondence from tho Eng
lish army, some interesting incidents vii
DO found which eiyea vidpicture Of tn,
spirit in, which tho one battle in Egypt wa.
fought. No printed account Of tie opera
tions In detail depicts ihc lie Of ,hcS scene
more happily than this ske,ch
Our "only general" has made his effort
and delivered Ills blow, and the Egyptian
army is thing Of the pas,! or course YOU
In England knuw. all aboutit, and proba,
bly, more than we on The spot do, but some
few details from an eye witness may inter,
est you. ,gt n; ~. ,gitDIsyytrI
After the action OF the OH troops came
pouring into the camp at Kassassin.S The
Highland brigade arrived tho day after
with Sir <. llamley and Sir A. Alison. The
llth passed over quietly, but on the 18th
came the lonyed.ior order, "pack every.
thing; strike tents after dirk; troops 10
bivouac; no bngles TO be sounded" The
lcas h against which the army hud been
strY,ining was to BE- slipped at last, and We
could go in at The enemy. All the otlicers'
light baggage aud the mems valiscs were
stacked ut the limo Of railway long before
the appointed hour, and the moment the
silent signal was given down came every
tent, the troops marched out with quick
light step to the bivouac, au,l then came II
great and most impressive hush-not II
sound but the occasional stamp OF horse;
not light. All was lis still rs the grave,
and It was almost impossible to realize the
fact That the enemy had not Il single out
post, not n single sentry beyond the line OF
his works.
Daybreak found most Of the regiments
close Oh 10 the intrenchments, some OF
them lying. on The very brink of the ditch,
As The first rays Of morning lit up the sand
wastes the enemy seemed 10 wake sudden.
ly and instantly the parapets burst into life
and flame. The fire was something awful,
and had the Arabs shot as straight as they
shot fast no mortal troops could have stood
up against it Most OF tho bullets Aew, over
the heads OF our men MS they rushed on;
but many i one found its billet.
On went tho assaultiug regiments, the
soldiers jumping down or rolling luto tho
ditch and then scramblins on to the para.
pet, some 10 full back again TO the bottom
and lie there dead or wounded; others
slipped down tine sandy slope, but mnle.
diately tried again until at last they gaine,l
the top. Then came the cold steel and it
was all over! with the Egyptians. They
could not stand it, and in ten minutes from
the first shot they were in full flight across
the plnn. Herethcy suffered terribly from
the quick, inressant fire OF the Martins
Henry. and the ground was strewu thick
with their dead. Without IN attempt to
rally-.indeed, without any possibility, OF
ral!yingTFthey were driven in gheadions
disorder across the canal. $Then the. pur.
suit was taken up by the cavalry, who fol.
lowed them all day and slaughtered them
by the hundred. Xagazig, Delbeis and
Denha iell successivc!y into the hands OF
General Drurv Lowe, and then Cairo Itself,
The Bengal LanCers must have been in
their element, MS they are the very troops
Tor that kind Of work. I fancy they dis.
posed Of many OF their corelisionists!
The Egyptian batteries arc s,rou: works
ol admirable profile, with from three to
six embrasIres; the smaller ones with three
tmbrsnres had one run each, others more.
Fiity.eight cannon fell into our hands, max
ing sixty-nine altogether in four weeks.
The batteries arc all joined by shelter
trenches, those in the immediate line OF
our advance being OF good and strong plo.
file, with the Interior slopes rivetted-in.
deed, they are more like curtains Joining
the forts, which would correspond 10 bas.
tions in'the old system Of ioritication. The
others were ordinary shelter trenches Of the
par"pet and ditch form, about four feet
high, With a ditch about, six feet wide at
the top Had we attempted, to- out flank
his left Arab had q line OF works ready.
and on the right he had strong work on
the canal: while batteries Nos. II and Is
would cover his retreat. 5-ir3 ijal iap
When it isUmembered that The ground
over which we had 10 advance was as a
rule MS flat as the back Of ones hand and
withouta an atom Of cover it will be seen
that M enormous sacrifice OF life would
hayc been incurred hud il not been ior the
criminal negligence offthe enemy in not
having single outpost or sentry, 1t is I'll.
most incredible. Had not seen it mysclf
! should have been as hard to convince Oh
Thomas himself. ,,,..g..yi
In taking these formidable lines, gar
rlsoncd by $4,000 regulars and 1000 voiun.
tcers and Bcdouins, the regulars being
armed with Remington rides and defended
by ilfty.eight Krupp brecch loadipr eau
non, We lost sixty killed and $50 wounded,
and did the job in MS little time as it takes
one to shave Comfortably It is reported
that Arabi himself said that il the English
could turn him out Of his lines at. Tel el.
kebir he would fight no more, and his im-
mediate surrender seems TO prove the re-
port true. 1t Is certain he Ind placed his
best troops here.! I rot in between bat.
teries Nos. s and 0, the centre,of the front
attack, and the sight was one to be remem-.
bcred for n lifeline. The ground was
strewn with dead. The bodies, living in
every position imaginable, were mostly
those Of Egyptians, our own killed lying
outside or on lhetop ofthe parapct Horses
camels, arms, accoutremeuts lay scattered
in most ,hideous confusion. EThe Egyptian
tents were all ,standing-full Of bedding,
food and clothing-left Just as the. startled
inmates had rushed out OF them r. p f'S
One group OF the dead interested mo
greatly, and ! should have liked to have
eeeu the incident. \ Highlander, quite
boy, WIS lying With his legs entwined with
these Of biz Arab, whose brains were
protruding from bullet wound in the
head four other Arabs lay arannd thpm