The Milan exchange. (Milan, Gibson County, Tenn.) 1874-1978, 1882-09-09
THE WAR IN EGYPT.
A Night Engagement Mt Kass.ssln.
LONDON, August 20.

uiiNt JuSI TtCelNeu neWS 1TOfn the front
that General Graham was heavily attack ed last
evening by 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 9th gives the
following account of the fighting:
When morning came great excitement pre-
vailed in our camp at Kassassin in consc-
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 ascertaiu
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 opened 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 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, which they
placed at Il short distances from each Other,
ana presently showed several pieces of artil-
ASiJ Oh Out Ouf guns opened urO ana
our men turned out to face the attack. The
light now waxed warm, and during the whole
afternoon the gallant little garrison made a
good defense. Meanwhile the cavalry which
was nVe miles in our rear, had been twice sig
naled by General Graham to support him, and
had advanced almost to our position without
encountering the enemy. By 1880 D. m. tho
whole force consisting of the First and
second Life Guards, the Horse Guards, tho
Seventh Dragons, part of the Fourth
Dragons, and the Nineteenth Hussars, with
four guns, set out to succor the troops
at Kassassn. The march had to be
made very cautiously. The moon was rising.
ana showed the little army of horsemen to
strange advantage as they passed over tho
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 ,excellently 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
.tne ldeaof outfianking the enemy and turning.
MS position. Colonel Russell brought his mem
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
IN quick succession, landing nearly half
''iiiO III lutlE 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
MS cavalry and ordered them TO open sharp
musketry fire, but they found that the enemy
was closer than they had anticipated Them
MaJor-General Lowe dashed up and gave the
words of command TO mount " Form i'm
line" and Charge" Scarcely had the words
peen uttered when the Household Cavalry and
no.rorN 4,
suppressed but ominous murmurs swept on to-
meet the foe with drawn sabers and Stern do
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, Arabfsu hrtiIlerymen
getting ID their guns away, while his
infantry fell into a disordered mass upon
the banks of the canal "A few dashed into
me wafer TO save themselves. 1t would be-
difficult to imagine more complete success
, than wnsnow Seen. The bravery of the cav.
airy IN tnns grandlygcharging blind position.
the strength Of which it was impossible to ten
rendered the enemy almost panic stricken
They fell back rapidly, nor is this to be won-
dered ut 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 this way, our position at Kassassln was
relieved. We now command the country lead
ing to Tel-el-Kebir IFpsiVI !
About ten o'clock the cavalry came in i'm
high spirits over their brilliant achievement
Many were missing in the darkness, but thew
Will no doubt turn up in the morning.
b.. .i...U ,.r,. IsMAILIA, August 90.
Tho official report of General Lowe regard
ing the action of the cavalry at Kassassin con-
firms the details already printed. 70 He saws that
atter 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 az follows;
II found two acres thickly strewn with corpses
OF the enemy. Some of our cavalry were stir
seeking our dead and wounded. Two dead LIFE
Guardsmen were so mutilated that they were
quite unacceptable. Their faces were horri-
bly gashed9 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 guardsman's face from
temple to chin. The man is now, however,
doing well. The enemys loss must have been
at least 400" 90
1t has been learned from the prisoners that
Arab Pasha was present at the action Mon
day, but did not take command
The troops which attacked our forces did nor
come from KatrelDwar, but from Telel-
kebir. They were strengthened by the First
Regiment of the Guards, consisting of three