The Bolivar bulletin. [volume] (Bolivar, Hardeman County, Tenn.) 1865-1888, 1882-09-07
THE WAR in EGYPT.
a Night Engagement at Kassassin.
LONDON. August %

General Wolseley telegraphs from Ismailia
at 40 O'Clock this morning as follows:
a. have just received news from the front
that General Graham was heavily attacked last
evening by a large force of Egyptians. British
cavalry from Mahsameh went to his assist
ance, and he has had a brilliant success, TAX
ing eleven guns. Only a few British soldiers
were killed, but over 100 were wounded. am
just about to proceed to the front"
An lsmailia dispatch of the 29th gives the
following account of the fighting;
When morning came great excitement pre-
vailed in our camp at Kassassin in conse-
quence of the Egyptians showing themselves
in considerable force in various directions.
General Graham presently sent Major Hart,
with an escort Of mounted infantry under
command of Lieutenant Pigott, to ascertain
the strength and exact position of the enemy.
Major Hart proceeded in the direction of Tel
el-Kebir, and had gone forward two miles
when the enemy o ened fire with two guns.
Lieutenant Pgott dismounted his men and re-
turned the fire briskly, his men holding their
ground well for some time, though eventually
they were obliged to retire upon our camp.
At ten o'clock 1000 Bedouins appeared on.
our right and 'front.' extending two
miles, but, on the guns opening fire
on them, they retired. About three o'clock
their infantry advanced in open order upon
our left, bringing up several guns VIII ch they
placed at Il snort distances from &acn OIHer,
and presently showed several pieces OF artil-
lery on our right Our guns opened fire and
our men turned out to face the attack. The
fight now waxed wa5m, and during the whole
afternoon the gallant little garrison made a
good defense Meanwhile the cavalry, which
was five miles in our rear, had been twice sig
nailed by General Graham to support him. and
had advanced almost to our post on without
encountering the enemy. By 7;c0 p m. the
whole 'force, consisting of the First and
Second Life Guards, the Horse Guards, the
Seventh Dragons. part of the Fourth
Dragons, and the Nineteenth Hussars, with
four guns, set out to succor the troops
at Kassassin. The march had to be
made very cautiously. The moon was rising,
and showed the little army of horsemen to
strange advantages as they passed over the
shining ground, the cIanking of their swords
swelling musically through the air. Colonel
Stewart who directed the course of the brig
ade, disposed of his men so excelenty that
he was able to pilot them safely to the point of
contact without coming under the fire of the
guns which were then pounding the Kassassin
camp He led the way along the ridge with
the ideaof Outfianking the enemy and turning
his position. Colonel Russell brought his men
over four miles of heavy ground, so that by
nine o'clock, when they silently halted on the
staY-line, they found themselves so close to the
Egyptians that the shells went over their heads
GoNCCGCAOAAS
a mile in their rear. From the position
the cavalry had now gained they could see the
enemy close on the horizon in very large num-
bers, whereupon Colonel Russell dismounted
his cavalry and ordered them to open a sharp
musketry fire, but they found that the enemy
was closer than they had anticipated. Then
MajOr-Genera1 Lowe dashed up and gave the
words of command to Mount 4" Form in
Iine," and " Charge" Scarcely had the words
been uttered when the Household Cavalry and
Dragons rapidly obeyed the order, and with
suppressed but ominOus murmurs swept on to
meet the foe with drawn sabers and stern de-
termination. In very few moments the
hOrsemen had charged the enemy with great
bravery, and our guns having by this time
ceased firing, mingled with the Egyptians and
cut them up seriously. A general rout
hereupon ensued, Arabi's artiIlerymen
getting their guns away, while his
infantry fell into a disordered mass upon
the banks of the canal. A few dashed into
the water to save themselves. 1t would s5e
difficult to imagine more complete success
than was now seen. The bravery of the cav
airy in thus grandly charging a blind position,
the strength ofwhieh it was impOssible to tell,
rendered the enemy almost panic stricken,
They fell back rapidly, nor Is this to be won-
dered at when the race between the various
regiments of English cavalry is considered. in
which the Seventh Dragoon Guards exerted
themselves beyond description to be first. ply
ing their sabers with considerable alacrfty-
In this way our position at Kassassin was
relieved. We now command the country lead
ing to Tel-e-Kebir.
About ten O'Clock the cavalry came in in
high spirits over their brilliant achievement.
Many were missing in the darkness, but they
will no doubt turn up in the morning.
IsMAILIA, August ID. Z
Tho official report of General Lowe REGARD
ing the action of the cavalry at Kassassin con-
firms the details already printed. Hesays that
after the charge the ground was strewn with
the bodies of dead Egyptian infantry
A correspondent describes the scene of the
cavalry charge at Kassassin Lock as follows:
Il found two acres sthickly strewn with corpses
of the enemy. Some of our cavalry were still
seeking our dead and wounded Two dead Life
Guardsmen were SO mutilated that they were
quite unrecognizable. Their faces were hOrri-
bly, gashed. One of the men had one hand
completely severed from the arm and the
other hand nearly so, and one of the
eyes was scooped from the socket. The hands
of another body were just hanging to the
wrists by pieces of flesh and some sinews. A
wounded guardsman relates that, I'm the
charge, his horse was shot, and, in falling,
broke the riders thigh. While lying on the
field he saw Egyptian soldiers ride by. He
called for help. whereupon an Egyptian rode
up and sabered the guardsmans face from
temple to chin. The man is now, however,
doing we'll. The enemy's loss must have been
at least 4OO.''
1t has been learned from the prisoners that
Arab Rasha was present at the action Mon
day, but did not take command.
The troops which attacke our forces did not
come from Kafr-el-Dwar, but from Telel-
Kebir They were strengthened by the First
Regiment of the Guards, consisting of three
strong battalions, from Cairo.
work and heat. Cairo is entirely denuded of
troops.
MAHsAMEH, August 90.
In the fight at Kassassin a majority of the
Egyptian infantry fell on their faces to avoid
being slashed by the Life-Guards swords.
Many thus escaped who would otherwise have
been struck down. The cofpses of the Egyp-
tians were spread over mile and half of
ground. An officer who was present SAYS the
cavalry charge WIS ordered for the purpose of
saving the position, as the ammunition had
run short
Communication has been. established to Ma
hufa by telegraph, an thence to the advanced
front by he1oscope.
A correspondent who went over the ground
to-day Wednesday says: 1.-The scene was hor-
rfble beyond description The bodies of the
Egyptian soldiers were hacked and sashed al
most out of sembiance to humanity by the
long brOadswOrds Of the guards. One young
officer still held an unlighted cigarette in his
stiffened fingers. Two Of our guardsmen lie
dead in tent at Kassassin mutllate1 in such a
manner as will bring everlasting fnfamy upon
the Egyptian army. The work done by the
Househould troops demonstrated once for al
the fearful power Of these sponderous horse
men against undiscipIined foot soldiers or
even good troops when taken by surprise
The guards burst like an avalanche on the
timid musketeers. some Of whom fired after the
troopers, who returned and sabred them Our
men were much infuriated by the harassing
attacks made upon them during the day
The Saratoga correspondent Of the
New York lfqib writes of Oscar Wilde
that he ionnres canifnIe and fhnf his