The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1882-09-10
The regular circulation of THE SUN for III,
treek ending Sept. 0, 1882, pds.
The Eaglish Attacked by Arab.

lines at Kassasin brought on the first seri-
Gus engagement Of the war. According to
the latest kilograms the attacking force was
finally, after some hours hard fighting, com
PEELED to retire behind its intrcnchments
at Tel-el-Kebir. The Egyptians are re-
ported to have left some guns upon
the field, and to have suffered heavy loss
in killed and wounded. 1t is acknowledged
that the loss on the part of the British was
also considerable, and there is no doubt that
the assumption OF the aggressive by the
enemy indicates degree Of strength and
spirit scarcely looked for by those whose
opinions Of ARABS soldiers are based ON
the behavior Of Egyptian troops in recent
wars.
II the newspaper correspondents may be
trusted-and it is well to remember, first
that every telegram Is officially inspected,
and. secondly, that during Gen. WoLsELEY's
Campaigns in the Red River country and in
Ashantee the London Times was kept as
fully and quite as promptly informed as the
Foreign Otfice-the British commander had
not intended to engage the enemy before
Monday at the earliest. That he did not
expect an attack yesterday Is plain
enough from the fact that he WAS
not at the front. He seems to have
taken for granted that the Egyptians
would not venture to face English soldiers
in the field. but would confine themselves to
making such defence as they could behind
earthworks. Nor does it appear that in this
instance the Egyptian infantry came within
rifle shot Of their opponents, though regard
ing this and other interesting details the &C.
~ tha DC cilnnt
seem that the battle, such as it was, should be
described as an artillery duel. which, how
ever, was kept up with energy for some
hours, and the pursuit Of the retiring force
does not seem to have been particularly
efficient.
The assertion that the Egyptian guns were
brought near enough to shell the British camp
and retained their position until reinforce
ments were brought up from Mahsameh is
hard to reconcile with the assurances tele-
graphed several days ago that by Saturday
the British would have at least 1900 men at
Kassasin. II SO large force, or anything
approaching it in magnitude, had really
reached the 'front.' why, it may be asked, was
the coveted opportunity of engaging the
Egyptians in the open field not turned
promptly to account Again, a review of the
last weeks kilograms will demonstrate that
all the cavalry brought by Gen. WoLsE-
LEY from Alexandria in the original ex-
petition was at the front, together with
the greater part Of the cavalry belonging to
the Indian contingent. Such a considerable
body c. horse should have been competent
1t might be thought, to force general en-
gagement on an enemy who had ad-
vanced SO far beyond his defcnces.
According to one Of last nights tel
egrams. "had the Highland Brigade
come up and supported the Bengal Lancers,
I've could ere now have captured Tel-el-
Kebir" This is tantamount to an admis-
sion that when ARAB Pasha drew out his
forces in the field, instead Of keeping them
sheltered behind earthworks, he gave the
English q precious opportunity. which
tor some reason they failed to profit
by Either they did not have the
force at Kassasin which by officially sane
toned kilograms they We're said to have, or
that force, however considerable, did not feel
anxious to grapple with the enemy. To
compel ARAB Pasha to withdraw into his
camp can hardly be regarded as triumph,
inasmuch as main object of the British
strategy should obviously he to draw him out
ot his Entertainments, and keep him out
whenever he is rash enough to leave them.
The truth is that ARAB has been dis
covered to have much larger army than
he has been credited with, while on the
other hand the British commander, for some
unexplained reason-probably defective
cumInissariat-ha been unable to WELD his
own force with the celebrity and efficiency
which he expected. As to the number
Of troops at the disposal OF the
Egyptian commander, they are computed by
a correspondent of the London Daily Neps
at upward Of $4,000 infantry and $1,000 cav
airy, besides some 10000 Bedouins. This
estimate agrees pretty closely with
that lately furnished by Gen LoRING
who was for some ten years il
the Khedive's service. and who from
his knowledge of Egyptian military affairs
thinks that ARAB Pasha ought to have al
Tel-e-Kebir between 10000 and $4,000 men
well armed with the bennington rifle ant
krupp gam, besides leaving at Alex
aniria :. force sufficient to defend his
lines. II these calculations are well founded
we can well understand why Gen. WoI.sELEl
should think it advisable to have at hand ;
larger rumber Of troops than he deemed ade
Quatc at the time when he took possession U
the Suez Canal
That he has advanced more slowly than h
at first contemplated could easily be demon
strated by comparison Of the kilograms
forwarded from Ismalla when that place
was occupied with those which have rcache,
us during the last week, it being eviden
that one report is as trustworthy a1 another
since all alike are subjected to miltar!
censorship. The delay, no doubt, may b.
explained without assuming that Ger
WoLsELEY has conceived more re-
spectiui opinion Of his opponent, 1t is quit
possible as We have said, that his hand
have been tied by gross shortcomings o.
the part Of the conmissariat, which In
always been II weak point in the Eng
lish army, and whose faults durin
the Crimran war gave rise to 50 much sean
nal and to such gricvUus calumites. Not
withstanding the care with which all tel,
grams are sited By the military authoritic'
Come indications havc reached us that til