Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1884-05-26
TIE NTAHDPs ARMY
How the Vast Multitude Manages to
ENist-OrganizattOnO of the Soudanese
CohOrts-Their Courage Under Fire.

null information, From the treasury
each soldier receives one mediidie per
month, or about 3 shillings and 4 pence.
ana on TINS sum he must manage to exc
out his existence.
How the soldiers manage to effect this
remains puzzle, for KOrdofan is not a
IShu moving with milk and honey. On
the contrary, grain is scarce and dear,
ana IS largely imported from Dongola on
Gamers, even in ordinary years. The
only explanation approaching to a
satisfactory solution Of this question was
furnished by a refugee, who informed me
That Mohammed Ahmed's Arabs plant
corn and other seeds in suitable situa-
tons Just before the autumn rains begin
or, as he expressed it, ''as soon as the
nrst cloud appeared on the sky This
crop grows rapidly, and is garnered for
the year and forms the chief dependence
OF the Mahdi's army for their food supply.
II Is, however, very uncertain, and
nuctuates "a good deal. This applies
only to the constant followers. the
Bedouins having, in addition, their flOcks
OF camels, sheep, and goats, with abun-
dant pasturage. Of a coarse kind during
the rainy season. The paying of this
regular army must constitute a severe
drain on MOhammed Ahmed's eXchequer.
and when the large sums which fall into
his hands by his unexpected success in
hordofan are exhausted, it Is not easy
to see how the rebel golfers are to be re-
plenlshed. Not alone was all the money
found in the public trersurv at Obeid
appropriated, but all the private property,
especially the money of the rich inhabi-
tants, was cOnfiscated. From one source
or another, it is calculated that a sum of
not less than $2,000,000 has found its way
into the MahdPs treasury, and this sum
will enable him to hold his followers well
together for considerable time. Recog-
niZing the Importance of a revenue, he
has ordered the tribes and sedentary in
habitants to pay into the treasury a sum
equal to One-tenth Of the tax formerly
paid to the Egyptian Government. Some
of the tribes grumbled a good deal at
this, as they are indispOsed to pay taxes
of any sort to anybOdy-even to a Mahdi;
| but no doubt the victory over Gen. Hicks
| army has given the Mahdi so great an
| increase of prestige that the tribes will
not dare to refuse contributing to the
| Obeid treasury. That this essential
function OF every government is not neg
lected we had evidence few days since,
| when quite a scare was created among
| the well-to-dO people here by the report
| that large body of MOhammed Ahmed's
| BedOuins had reached Els SAT-, and were
! the advance guard of the army marching
| on DOngOla. A few days later came the
welcome news that this attachment had
! only come to Els SAT- to collect the taxes
/ OF the district, and having received
| them, had returned to Obeid.
In addition to the thirty or forty thous-
| and regular followers camped at Ell
| Obeid the Mahdi can count on the sup
| port and active cooperation of some
| eighty tribes who occupy the vast tract
| Of country lying between the desert OF
| Byaudah and the equatorial provinces,
/ and extending somewhat indefinitely
| toward the western frontier of Darfur.
| These allies can furnish them two or
| three thousand fighting men, who are
very different in temper and physique
| from the soldiers of Arab Pasha. In
| general type they approach closely to the
| American Indians Of the plains, but in
| many cases there is a strong mixture of
| negro blood. This is especially the case
with the Arab tribes nearest the equator;
| but there is no reason to believe that the
| admiXture of negro blood diminishes the
| fighting qualities of the race. In many
/ respects the Arabs and Barabari who
! innabit the districts now in rebellion are
| models Of what good soldiers ought to be.
| Their bodies are compact, the bones large,
| and the members sinewy. The men are
| strong and active, and capable of endur-
| ing great tatigues. They are sober and
/ aOstemlOuS to a miracle, and when
| engaged on difficult military expeditions
/ they live for weeks on a little grain
/ stepped in water. The mounted tribes,
| like the Baggara, are admirable horse
/ men and we'll trained to use their swords
| and spears. In fact, every man who can
afford to keep horse is trained from his
! youth to be good irregular cavalryman,
| and if European cavalry would dispense
| with their revOlvers and breech-loading
| carblnes, the Arab hOrsemen might be
| trusted to give good account of them.
! such are the rough materials out of which
| the MahdPs armies are made, and in the
| hands of an able military OrganizerNthey
| might be nodded into a really formidable
| force, Notwithstanding their defective
| armament. Some attempt has been made
| to give military shape TO this vast body of
| fighting men, but so far the result has
! not been very successful. In fact, the
| organization is of the crudest, and little
| more can be alleged in Its favor than that
| beginning has been made. Each man
! belongs to a distinct body, which rallies
to its own proper flag, and this body seems
| to play much the same part as the huge
/ company in the German army. 1t is, in
| fact, the tactical unit, and seems to act
almost independentlY-at least on its own
| ground. There is not much trace of more
| complicated organization, and this is one
of the causes which prevents the Mahdrs
armies from producing the maximum of
effect. In the case OF the Bedouin tribes
this organization is supplemented by the
| tribal unity, 80 that the representatives
| Ofthe larger tribes play the part of regi-
| ment or brigade, according to the strength
| Of the detachment present in camp.
| When strong reintOrcements of BedOuins
are called for, they bring with them sup
| plies to support themselves for the eX-
| pected duration of the campaign. There
is a conflict of testimony in reference to
| the care bestowed on the military Organi-
| cation in 0beid. According to one
| account, the Mahdi drills necessarily his
! followers, endeavOring to hammer them
| into an efficient military organization.
| Other witnesses insist that no serious
| drilling goes on at all, and that the only
| military maneuYers carried on are the
| occasional assemblages which come to-
| gether when the Mahdi breaches or prays
| in public. These proceedings are, how
| ever, little more than a mob parade.
| However. all evidence agrees that the
| soldiers are organized into bodies dis
| tinguished by flags, and that regular
| hierarchy of officers command this body,
which, whatever may be its name, is the
/ tactical unit of the Mahdfs army. AS
| the immense majority of the men COM
| posing this force have no arms but the
| spear and shield, the tactics adopted are
| those most suitable to give these weapons
| full play. For victory they depend on
/ the shock of the mass, and the disorder
which naturally succeeds a successful
/ charge. The general instruction given
to the spearmen is to cover their faces
with their shields, and rush straight on
until the soldier can strike the enemy
with his lance. AS this charge is made
en- masse, the loss sustained by the
! Mehdi's followers must be perfectly
frightful when they are met by a steady,
well-directed fire; but to the loss of men
they seem indifferent, and continue to
advance with the utmost determination
| under the heaviest fire. 1t is the fear in
| spired by this courageous advance which
has so completely demoralized the
| Egyptisn soldiers, and encouraged the
| belief that bullets do not harm the
| MahdIs followers.
How a Big Man Lost His Teeth.