Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1884-02-07
GEN. BAKERS DEFEAT.

The defeat Of General Valentine Baker,
while on his march from Trinkitat to relieve
the garrison at Toka, falling, as it does, so
shortly after the destruction of Gen. Hicks
with nearly the whole of his command, and
preceding by brief interval the ambition
of Tewfk Bey and his four hundred men be-
tween Sinkat and the coast, complicates
more than ever the Egyptian situation, aud
threatens TO force upon the British govern
ment responsibilities that it is reluctant to
assume. The story of the defeat of Baker
shows the utter folly of trusting i'll armed,
i'll organized Egyptian troops in contest
with the tribes of the Soudan. Bakers
command numbered, all told, thirty-five
hundred men. Of these he lost two thou
sand through the cowardice of the Egypt.
ians, but with the remaining fifteen hun
dred he cut his way through to Trinkitat.
All his camels, five Krupp and two Calling
guns, considerable ammunition and many
small arms fell into the hands of the enemy.
Bakers purpose when he left Cairo was to
attempt the relief of Kbartoum, a fortified
town of $4,000 inhabitants at the junction
of the White and Blue Nile, which Col. Coe
tlogon reported to he in danger, the garri-
sou being demoralized by the rumored APP
proach of Ell Mahdi. Proceeding down the
Red sea to Suakim, he made the latter port
the base of his operations. But the rapid
spread of insurrection forced him to aban-
don his purpose until he had conciiated or
subsidized some Of the desert tribes anu nell
tralzed the hostility of the Abyssinians. 1t
was while at this work he received impera-
tive orders to proceed at once to withdraw
the garrison at Tokar, Il small inland town,
that was closely beset by kassaIa tribes.
Tokar lies sixty miles south of Suakim, and
the nearest point to it is Trinktat, also on
the Red sea, from which Tokar is thirty
miles distant. Trinkitat is guarded by gun
boats, and it offers the shortest line of re-
treat in the event of disaster, n probability
which seems to have been always present in
Bakers calculations During the seventeen
mi es of the first days march Baker appears
to have met with no OPPOSITION. But on the
second day he was attacked in the rugged
leiiles through which he was struggling, and
the result of the conflict and the magnitude
of his loss were reported in yesterdays pa
pcrs. 1t is intimated that the British gov
ernment does not hold itself in any way
responsible for Bakers defeat, inasmuch as
Baker is in the service of the khedive and
the troops in Egyptian pay. Nevertheless,
1t is evident that the consequences must in
directly Affect the position Of England i'll
in Egypt, and it may be questionable whcth-
err the English people look with the same
equanimity upon the situation that the
Gladstone ministry appears to do.
At the last advices Gordon was advancing
up the Nile with small escort, and was
reported TO have reached Wady HalGa, at
| or near the second cataract. He holds u
colonel's commission in the British service.
He is the accredited representative of Eng
| land In the Soutlan, and lie has been clothed
with full powers, both from the British gov
eminent and the Khedive, to enter, it is
said into negotiations with FL Mahdi for the
surrender of 4 great part Of the Soudan, besides
being authorized to rc-cstablSh the Kingdom of
Darrur. He is invested, therefore, with more
than the functions of an ambassador.