Hand County press. (Miller, Dakota [S.D.]) 1882-1893, 1882-07-19
THE VAR IN EGYPT.


Ah60HdrlN.
The bombsldtf. mt Of A'exandfil was begun
II $50 o'clock on the morning Of Tuesday,
July IA, by the iron-clads Sultan, Superb and
Alexandra. Of the Biitish Heet. The batteries
repae a! once, their shot at 6rst falling short
Of the ships. The IDflexible, Temcraire, Pene-
lope, Iayinsisie and Mouarch soon Joined In
the battle. Two OF the forts ceased firing after
twenty minutes. The gunboats Bttern, Con-
dor, Beacon, Decoy and Cygnet attacked and
qni ky sienced the Marabout batteries al the
entrance to the harbor The. Inyincib,e then
linde party OF marines At Fort Mex, who
blew mp the heavy guns yits e &hamitA Atthe
moment OF opening the siogp dense crowds OF
people could be i.:;;s ttIeia way toward
the palace, and the streets were soon deserted.
Tue Geneva red cross was visible over the
hospital, aud the Dutch and Greek flags could
be seen waving above their consulates. At 3
o'clock the magazine at Fort Ada, close to
the palace, was exploded. At noon four
fCrts had been blown up, when the firing
practically ceased. The English fleet had
five men killed and twenty-sevea wounded
Several oil tine oarthworks behind which guns
were mounted proved to be mere sand-heaps.
The Turkish Ambassador at London was tele-
graphed by the Porte to lose not a moment in
urging Lord Granville TO order a cessation of
firing. In the British House OF Lords, Gran
vile said the bombardment was directed against
military despotism, and was not an act Of war
against the allied powers.
The New York TribtneS special cablegram
says OF the bombardment 1.-The lombard
ment marks an epoch in the history OF warfare,
for never has such storm of shot and shell
been hurried against any defenses, either on
land or sea. The Alexandra was the first shp
to open lire, and, the shots being returned, in a
gusrter Of an hour the action became general.
The broadsde iron-clads alone remained at
anchor. The remainder Of the fleet steamed to
and fro in the roadstead. The Arabs stood 10
the guns Of the other forts with sturdy de-
termination until near midday but their fire
was very il-directed. Most of the shots fell
short or went over the ships, and the few that
struck did little damage.
The result OF the engagement has not by
any means fulfilled the expectations Of artile-
rists, and there is much surprise that the shells
fired from the eighty-ton guns of the Infiexible
had so little effect on the earth-works. In con-
sidering that, it ought to be borne in mind
that this ship directed her fire from q point
two miles distant from the batteries. The
heaviest guns of the other vessels are four
OF twenty-five tons on the Monarch, two of
twenty-five tons on the Alexandra, and the
rest are armed with eighteen and twelve tons.
The heaviest guns mounted on the Egyptian
forts are eighteen and twelve tons, of the old
Woolwich pattern, but still very serviceable
weapons OF the larger kind, throwing 400
pound shells. calculated to pierce tweve-inch
armor. The days operations extended over
line of four miles in length"
The bombardment was resumed early on the
morning Of the l2th. The Infiexible and Tenn
eraire opened FIRE on Moncrieffe fort, which,
daring the night, had been repaired.
The batteries were evidently much damaged
by the first three shots, as they made no re-
A Qtn aar,a ara,>r, .htV.
the feet with dag OF truce, and similar en-
blem was hoisted at the arsenal, when the bonn
uNa-, tho sr,nsto-. ,sittern proceedsd 70 she
harbor to learn the object or the flag OF truce,
Toulbs Pasha sent word that he wished to COM
muncate with Admiral Seymour. and
Was informed that as preliminary
condition the forts must be surren-
dered. Several large fires broke out
in the city. The Turkish Ambassador at Lon
don was Informed by Earl Granville that En-
gland acted in the name OF Europe. The Lon
don Daily Telegraph correspondent teleeraphs
regarding the second days compartment
81 took an open boat and went close along
side land. found all the batteries facing the
sea destroyed and tho guns dismounteG. An
Arab informed me that many hundred persons
had been killed between Adjemi and Alexan-
alia An explosion occurred m the middle OF
Arabs informed me the noise of burst
ing shells was hike thunder, and
they declared hundreds Of people were killed in
distant streets. They stated that the obstinacy
Of the defense was owing tn the fact that the
batteries were manned by negro Mohammed-
ans. They estimate the loss of life among sol
diers and townsfolk at 1900.
NAVAL officers witnessing the combat ex-
pressed the opinion that, with the exception Of
tine Temeraire and the gunboats, the English
ships have not distinguished themselves very
greatly as artlleris.s, many shells Of the Mon
arch, Inyincible and Superb falling seriously
short. Nearly half the missiles seemed
to fall in the water. The guns
likewise were served very slowly, giving the
Egyptians time to recover from their surprise
and regain courage. Foreign officers think
lighter guns moro quickly served would have
ended the action sooner. They give the palm
to Lord Charles Beresford, on the Condor, who
under heavy fire maneuyered admirably, in
filcting heavy loss.
Sockinu n nd Rurninu OT Alex rin