The sun., 1891-07-05

were Of the nnseksst and least formidable Of
the African peoples. the EGYPTIAN fellahin or
peasantry They made no feht and fed In dis
| order. There was no pursuit worth speaking
OF and his work was LETT only half done His
preparations and individual apprehens sions,
though ill-founded, having been enormous. a
proportionate feeling OF grave peril had per-
meatsd England. In the sudden rebound to q
realization Of safety he was rewarded in pro-
portion to the imaginary dangers.
| Perhaps the worst and most indelibls stain
on EnGland's centuries OF resplendent military
glory was his bungllng and abortive attempt to
rescue Gen. Gordon. There were any number
| OF most accurate and complete maps and re-
ports Of the geography and topography Of the
region in the War Department at Cairo aud at
the headquarters OF the British stafr as we'll as
in the principal libraries OF Europe and Amer
lea. With characteristic shallowness. he seems
to have had no knowledge OF these. At all
events he planned from an ordinary map. and
one without any stamp OF accuracy.
on which appeared route which
seemed to him feasible. and which In
yolved the building OF railroad. After
great expenditure OF money aud time It was
abandoned. The difficulties were pointed out
and the result predicted BY Gen. Colston OF the
late Confederate army and Egyptian staff in
one OF our periodicals. He floundered about
In vacllatlon with four changes OF programme
and four months waste OF time. The routes
were we'll known. and had been travelled by
caravans. perhaps from times anterior to the
pyramids. but In his ludicrous elf-suiflciency
he would brook no suggestions. though plenty
Of practical ones were offered. After trying
all possible ways Of going wrong" he finally
adopted the route by tho Nile. There wore
boats In abundance suited to all require.
ments. and he was fully advised OF the
imminency Of Gordon's peril and the vital
necessity OF haste. As II the glory he h ad
reaped on the He'd River had obliterated every
vestigo OF his common sense he now wasted
three months in having boats built and paiut-
cd after the Canadian pattern. and in the i'm
portation OF Canadian boatmen and steam boat
Captains. He was inexcusably dilatory even
after starting, anu disposed his forces in q
manner that would have done dlscredit to
General OF American militia. besides. to all ap-
pearances. affecting his officers and men in
jurlously by his vacillation and timorousness.
His troops were British regulars. sup
piled with tho best breechloaders. artillery.
aud machine guns: his foes naked bar
barians, armed almost exclusively with
swords and spears. 1t was thought nec-
essary to build stockades and form
squares In the open field before meeting
these comparatively unarmed people. Squares
were more than once broken and tho troops
driven back. In ono case o square was broken
and the mon routed with tho loss OF all their
guns. division only escaped destruction by
q series OF exceptionally fortunate accidents.
And 1t should not be said that he was outnum-
bered. Doubtless his troops were of the best
in the world. Tho generalship was Of the worst. |
A few days. well used. OF the seven months
wasted, not to speak Of the un necessary delays |
and foolish diversions OF this inflated efflgy OF !
a General. would have saved Gen. Gordon. |
Only three days after his death the advance |
OF the expedition reached its destination,
kharoum!
Since then. il his battles In Hyde Park and
in the conduct OF royal garden parties be ex.
copied. all his fights have been on paper. In
reference to his commentaries on the civil
war. his admitted sources of Information are
such as to preclude tho smallest possibility OF
more than very superficial and imperfect
knowledge Of his subject or course his blum
lers are multttudinous. and are often ludi-
,rous. Notwithstanding, he speaks without
4 taint Of uncertainty" indulGes in personali-
les designed to be witherinG. and both praises
md condemns indiscrimnately. This alone
seems fairly to evince not only an absence OF
'ufflcisnt good judgment for important mill
nry command. but Of common discretion.
II he Is considerably avoided In society.
'wing to his incessant eloouence and habit Of
all the talk whenever possible.
t is believed that his character as q private
,entleman is most reuectRble
CHARLES DONALD HOLMES.
FARoo, North Dakota June 80.