New-York tribune., 1885-01-29
GEN STEWARDS VICTORIES
THE BRITISH COMMANDER WOUNDED

MUNICATED WITH. - NJ
LONDON. JAM 2s.-Intelligence was S.arort,s
The War Office at IL a. m. that aL THE dis
80. a. ontrencbed south of Metemneh n0 ua.
torce Is on''on a.. gratifying information thae
p''on 90. C.o,,art ia in communication WIFI oeno,"'
CanroI stewards force had severai hen''
- .to Arab rebels before it reached Me'e"non'
WI General Stewart himself is badly wounuou
anu o s.Io uobdps emlrs were killed in the hghts'
r.,oral ord Wolseley in dispatch, saws that oir
ChorIos Wilson has gone to Khartoum on poaro
a,.a,oor 70 confer with General Gordon. IL Is eA-
nected that he will return as soon as po,1iD
report personally 10 General Wolseiey' "'p 80
from Cairo declares that Lord Charies Doie ~,
,r;th small contingent is pushing on from
Metemneh to Khartoum. ,, 90
The official dispatches indicate that the march Vi
conorol stewart and his little army from Abu-klea
Wells 70 their present position has been no easy
+osk Almost every foot of the way appears 10
bove bsen sbarply contested by the resoute Arao
foe There was constant succession OF ehco"h'oi'
from the action of January IL TIL tho MIC ""'
reached. the British troops steadily winning ireSn
victories over the impetuous buteasny uemorai'A0"
rebels. 90 . aors
IN the morning of January 10, two DAYS
after the fight at Abu-Klea, the enemy
appeared IN force in front of the advancing pi,r
army and a short, fierce battle was louSn" ~
Nile The British were compelled TO SUSTAIN "
heavy fire for some time. Early IN this engage"ien'
Coreral Stewart received his wound ana on
Charles Wilson thereupon assumed command' iHo
wounded men and the baggage tram were ieiO uii-
der guard behind their quickly buit ear'n"oi~',
while the rest of the force advanced IN the lace VI
the hostile fire 10 a gravel ridge some distahco !"
front Here large force of the rebels had estao-
lished themselves in a strong position As soon a.
the British line'came near, fierce charge leu oS
several emirs was made against 1t by the reoeis'
FIGHTING IN THE FORM OF SQUARE.
The British troops were arran ged as usual IN the
form of a square, and steadily a1vaucei 10 ihee'
the wild onset of the loudly cheering enemy WIN
ware rusbng down upon them. At the same time
+be riAas of the British were doing bloody execu-
+ion The charge was checked and not an Arao
came with thirty yards of the British square. Inc
rebels did not long stand before the Eng!ish hre'
but were repulsed with he avy loss. rive ehrs
and go men were left dead upon the helu' anu
largo numbsrs were wounded. About the English
losses few details have yet been received. IL Is
known. however, that Mr. Cameron the spec'ai
correspondent of The London Ddity Standard ana
MIR. Herbert special correspondent OF Inc Ao'""y
Post. were killed. The place where this battle oc-
curred is a slight distance beyond the Shepaca'
Wells
Tn front the Naval Brigade and the Grenadler
Guards: on the right flank, the Codstrea'n Guards
and the Scots Guards; on the left Hank, the
mounted infantry and on the rear. the sussex
Regiment and the heavy camel corps. As soon as
completed the square advanced under s'e"uy
ambush fire a distance of two miles. Az TINS point
the enemy began to move upon the square IN wv
large echelons These were directed against the
British right front, which stood unmoved DuilnB
the rebel charge the English troops forming tl'o
assailed front delivered terrific fire aimed rlght
at the euemy's middle, moving down men IN such
beans that they formed actual obstacles and inter
fered so seriously with the evenness necessary 10
the success of the onslaught that its centre line
was brought to a standstill about sixty yardS lre'
the British front lines. The force of the general
movement threw the unimpeded parts OF the line
like the ends of broken timber around the corners
of the square, and the rebels 80 displaced were
simply cut TO pieces From this on the warfare
was as disastrous TO the rebels as it irregular
on their side.
When the enemy's line was broken the Arabs
seemed to break mp into bands, each OF winch
waged war on its own account. large detacA-
ment mostly on horseback, went back 10 attack
the zereba. This was garrisOned by body OF
English soldiers made up of little detachments lett
behind by each corps which had gone forward III
the SQUARE Lord Charles Beresford was IN com
mand. He sustained the attack for two hours
when the enemy was compelled to retreat. In the
general attack upon the square only SIX men were
killed and twenty-three wounded on the English
side CAPTAIN Norton worked the guns in this iight'
and his firing did awful execution.
THE MARCH FROM ABC-KLEA.
General Stewart employed what was left of Sat
urday, January II, and a large part of Sunday IN
establishing a. strong post at Abu-Klea There
loI hoo,N
battle were left with sufficient garrison. On the
afternoon of January 1s General Stewart began
his forward movement toward Metemneh After
passinp the Shebacat Wells the British forces
moved to the right. This was in accordance with
instructions given by Lord Woseey, who had or
dered that in case Metemneh were found TO be occu
pied by the enemy General Stewart should make
the effort to establish himself at some point
on the Nile between Metcmneh and Khar-
toum. At o'clock on the morning OF
.January 10. when the British line was barely
league from the river, the enemy appeared III
force some distance in front. A halt was there
upon made for breakfast IN a strong zereba estab-
lished here The enemy presently opened fire upon
them and while they were strengthening the work.
for a protection to the wounded and the baggage
the fire was the heaviest that the British had yet
been subjected TO. While they were still at thu
point General Stewart was wounded
On January 21, two days after the battle in the
desert, a reconnaissance of MetemDeh was made
This revealed the fact that Metemneh was in a state
of defence. The works which in fairly good
condition were furnished with loOp-hoes. SI
Charles Wilson reports that he could have carried
Metemneh, but he thought it not worth risking the
loss of the men which ats capture might have III.
yolved On the following day reconnaissance,
was made down the river to Shendy with three
steamers which returned on the same day to Gubat
Sir Charles deplores the losses which the Engisi
troops had suffered n crossing from kCrt 10 Gubat
but In other respects he regards the result of TIL,
operations as in the highest degree successful
Lord Woseley telegraphs that two officers wer
killed and nine wounded in the passage from Abu