The Eaton Democrat. (Eaton, Ohio) 1875-1903, 1882-09-07
THE WAR IN EGYPT.
A Night Engagement at Kassassin.
Npo Au0,,st %

IHE WAN IN LUI11 |
A Night Engagement at Kassassin.
LONDON, August 20.
General wolseley telegraphs from Ismailia
at / 40 o'clock this morning as follows:
"Ihave just received news from the front
General Graham was heavily attackedla last
evening by a large force of Egyptians. British
cavalry from Mahsameh went to his asst
ance, and he has had a brilliant success, tax
ing eleven guns. Only a few British soldiers
were killed, but over 100 were wounded. l 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 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 str ength and exact position OF the enemy.
Major Hart proceeded in the direction of Tel
elKebir, and had gone forward two miles
when the enemy o 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 were obliged to retire upon our camp.
At ten o'clock 1000 Bedouins appeared on
QUE right and front, extending two
hiAO Do oh ~ ooAo ofSbDS "a
on them, they retired. About three O'Clock
their infantry advanced in open order upon
our left, bringing up several guns, VIII CHI they
placed ut a short distances from each other,
and presently howed several pieces of artil
lery on our right. Our guns opened fire apd
our men turned out to face the attack. The
fight now waxed wa m 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 $50 r. m. the
whole force, consisting of the First and
Second Life Guards, the Horse Guards, the
Seventh Dragons, part of the Foutth
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 musically 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
the idea of out1anking the enemy and turning
his position. Colonel Russell brought his men
over four miles of heavy g;ound, so that by
nine O'clock, when they 81 emily halted on the
stay-line, they found tn themselves SO closeto the
Egyptians that the shells went over ~theirhcads
in quick succession, landing nearly half
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-
beers, whereupon Colonel Russell dismounted
his cavalry and ordered them 10 open a sharp
musketry fire, but they found that the enemy
was closer than they had anticipated. Then
Major-General Lowe dashed up and gave the
words of to Mount" Form in
line" and Charge" Scarcely had the words
been uttered when the Household Cavalry aud
dragons rapidly obeyed the order, and with
suppressed but ominous murmufs swept on to
meet the foe with drawn sabers and stern de-
termination. Ina very few moments the
horsemen had charged the enemy with great
bravery, and our N having. by this time
ceased firing, mingled with the Egyptians and
cut them up seriously. A general rout
hereupon ensued, Arabfs art;llerymen
getting their gun 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 be
difficult to imagine q more complete success
than was now seen. The bravery of the cav
airy in thus grandly charging a 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 this way our position at Kassa ssin was
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 in the darkness, but they
will no doubt turn up in the morning.
IsMAILIA, August 80.
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.
A correspondent describes the scene of the
cavalry charge at Kassas sin Lock rs follows:
II found two acres thici< ly strewn with oorpses
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 sabeced the guardsman's 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 thai
Arab Pasha was present at the action Mon
day, but did not take command.
The troops which attacke l our forces did moi
come from Katr-el-Dwlr, but from Tel-e,
Kebir. They were strengthened by the First
Regiment of the Guards. consisting of three
strong battal;ons, from Cairo.
Our horses suffered severely from hard
work and heat. Cairo is entirely denuded o.
troops.
MAHsAMEH, August go.
In the fight at Kassassin a majority of the
Egyptian infantry fell on their faces to avoit
being slashed by the Life-Guar3s' swords
Many thus escaped who would otherwise havt
been struck down. The corpses of the Egyp
tians were spread over a mile and a half O
ground. An officer who was present says the
cavalry charge was ordered for the purpose O
saving the position, as the ammunition hat
run short.
Communication has been established to Ma
huta by telegraph, an thence to the advanced
front by helioscope.
A correspondent who went over the grount
to-day wednesday, says: 1.-The scene was hor
rible beyond description. The bodies of tn
Egyptian soldiers were hacked and slashed al
most out of semblance to humanity by ths
| long broadswords of the guards. One young
officer still held an unlighted cigarette in hi
stiffened fingers. Two of our guardsmen III
dead in a tent at Kassassin mutilate1 in such
manner as will bring everlasting infamy upol
the Egyptian army. The work done by thu
Househould troops demonstrated once for al
| the fearful power of these ponderous horse
men against undisciplined foot soldiers O
even good troops when taken by surprise
n The guards burst like an avalanche on tn,
timid musketeers, some of whom fired after tn
troopers, who returned and sabred them. Gu
men were much Infatuated by the harassinS
attacks made upon them during the day.
Brave Boys at Niagara.
Last week a party of Germans stopping a
the Frontier House, Suspension Bridge, amonj
whom was Norris Wilmer, a wealthy brewe
from Sexton, Germany, visited the "Maid o
A. NEI,&,Y - A.