The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1882-09-08
THE WAR IN EGYPT.
A Night Engagement ~ Kassassin.


General wolseley telegraphs from Ismailia
1t 40 O'Clock this morning as follows:
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
nnce, and he has had 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 18th 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 show. ng themselves
in considerable force in various directions.
General Graham presently sent Major Hart,
with an escort of mounted infantry under
command of Lieutenant Pigo;t, to ascertain
the strength and exact position of the enemy.
Major Hart proceeded in the direction of Tel
elKebir, and had gone forward two miles
when the enemy ened fire with two guns.
Lieutenant Pigott dismounted his men and re-
turned the fire briskly, his men holding their
ground well for some time, though eventually
they we're obliged to retire upon our camp
At ten o'clock 1000 Bedo.,ins 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, win Oh they
placed ut u short distances from each other,
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
fght now waxed wa m, and during the whole
afternoon the gallant little garrison made o
good defense. Meanwhile the cavalry, which
was five miles in our rear, had been twice siY-
nailed by General Graham to supp 1T him, and
had advanced almost to our post on without
encountering the enemy. By 7:SO p. N. the
whole force, consist ng 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 advantage as they passed over the
shining ground. the clanking of their swords
swelling unsteady through the air. Colonel
Stewart, who directed the course Of the brig.
ade, disposed of his men so exccllently 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 outflanking 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 81 entity halted on the
stav-line, they found themselves SO close to the
Egyptians that the shells went over their heads
in quick succession, landing nearly half
a mile in their rear. From the D ,sition
the cavalry had now gained they could see the
enemy close on the horizon i'm very large num-
bers, whereupon Colonel Russell dismounted
his cavalry and ordered them to open sharp
musketry fire, but they found that the enemy
was cl ser than they had anticipated. Then
MajorGeneral Lowe dashed up and gave the
words of command to Mount" Form in
line," and Charge" Scarcely had the words
been uttered when the Household Cavalry aud
Dragons rap dly 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, Arabs artillerymen
getting their guns away, while his
infantry fell into disordered mass upon
the banks of the canal. A few dashed into
the water to save themselves. 1t would BE
difficult to imagine more complete success
than was now seen. The bravery of the cav.
airy in thus grandly charging blind position,
the strength of which 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 Dragon Guards exerted
themselves beyond description to be first ply
ing their sabers with considerable alacrity.
In,
relieved. We now command the country lead
ing to Tel-elKebir.
About ten o'clock the cavalry came in in
high spirits over their brilliant achievement
Many were missing i'm the darkness, but they
will no doubt turn up in the morning.
IsMAILIA, August 30.
Tho official report of General Lowe regard
ing the action of the cavalry at Kassassin con-
firms the details already printed. He says that
after the charge the ground was strewn with
the bodies Of dead Egyptian infantry.
correspondent describes the scene of the
cavalry charge at Kassassin Lock as follows:
~ found two acres thickly 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 unacceptable. 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, in 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 well. The enemy's loss must have been
at least 400"
1t has been learned from the prisoners that
Arab Pasha was present at the action MN
day, but did not take command.
The troops which attacke our forces did not
come from Kair-el-Dw IF, but from Tele.-
Kebir. They were strengthened by the First
Regiment Of the Guards, consisting of three
strong battalions, from Cairo.
Our horses suffered severely from hard
work and heat. Cairo is entirely denuded Of
troops.
MAHSAMEH, August 30.
In the fight at Kassassin a msjolty 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 corpses of the Egyp-
tians were spread over mile and a half Of
ground. An officer who was present says the