Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1898-09-08
.QhDURMAN SI)RREND[RS.
The British Lose Two Hundred,
While Thousands of the Der
wishes Bit the Dust.
fHE BATTLEFIELD A SLAUGHTER PEN.
The Reckless Soudanese, Apparently Court
Ing Death, are Moved Down Like
Grass, and Leave the Field White with
Jibbah-Clad Corpses-Only Two British
Omcers Killed.


Grass, and Leave the Field White with
Jibbah-Clad Corpses-oniy Two British
Omcers Killed.
Omdurman, Opposite Khartoum, on
the Nile, Nubia, Sept. 2, by Camel
Post to Nasri.-The sirdar, Gen. Sir
Herbert Kitchener, with the kalifa's
| black standard, captured during the
battle, entered Omdurman, the capl-
tai of Mahdiam, at o'clock this after
noon, at the head of the ANGLO gyp-
tian column, after completely routing
| the dervishes and dealing a death
blow to Mahdiam. Roughly, our
losses were 200. including two officers
| while thousands of the dervishes were
killed or wounded.
Advanced to the Attack Chanting War
| Songs.
Last night the Anglo-Egyptian army
camped at Agaiza, eight miles from
Omdurman. The dervishes were three
| miles distant.
At dawn to-day our cavalry, pa
trolling toward Omdurman, discovered
the enemy advancing to the attack in
battle array, chanting war songs.
Their front consisted of infantry and
cavalry, stretched out for three or four
miles. Countless banners futtered
over their masses, and the copper and
brass drums resounded through the
ranks of the savage warriors, who adj
vanced unwaveringly, with all their
old-time ardor.
Formation OF the Anglo-Egyptian Forces.
Our infantry formed up outside the
camp. On the left were the First battal-
ion Northumberland fusileers, the
Second battalion Lancashire fusiliers
and the First battalion Grenadier
guards, with the Maxim battery,
manned by the Royal Irish fusileers.
In our center were the First battalion
Warwickshire regiment, the First
battalion Cameron highlanders and the
First battalion Lincoln shire regiment,
with Maxims, worked by detach-
ment of the royal artillery, under Maj.
Williams. On our right were the Sou
dan brigade, commanded by Gen. Max
well and Gen. Mcdonald. The Egyp-
tian br1gades held the reserves and
both tanks were supported by the
Maxim-Nordenfelt batteries.
The Enemy Advanced Steadily Under Ar
tiIlery Fire.
At 7:2O a. m. the enemy crowded the
ridges above the camp and advanced
steadily In enveloping formation. At
7:40 our artillery opened fire, which
was answered by the dervish rifemen.
a Large Force of Horsemen Literally
Swept Away.
Their attack developed on our left,
and in accordance with their tradi-
tional tactics, they swept down the
hillside with the design of rushing our
flank. But the whitening fire main
tanned for Is minutes by all our line
frustrated the attempt, and the der
wishes, baked, swept toward our CEN
ter, upon which they concentrated
fierce attack. A large force of horse.
men, trying to face a continuous hail
of bullets from the Cameron highland
ers, the Lincolnshire regiment and the
Soudanese, was literally swept away.
Threw Away Their Lives In q Bold
Charge.
The bravery of the dervishes can
hardly be overstated. Those who car
ried the flags struggled to within
few hundred yards of our fighting
line, while the mounted emirs abso-
lutsly threw their lives away in bold
charges.
Right Came In Contact with the Enemy.
When the dervishes withdrew be-
hind the ridge in front of their camp
the whole force marched in echelon of
battalions toward Omdurman. As our
troops surmounted the crest adjoining
the Nile the Soudanese on our right
came into contact with the enemy,
who had formed under cover of a rocky
eminence, and had massed beneath the
black standard of the khalifa in order
to make a supreme effort to retrieve
the fortunes of the day. A mass 49,.
900 strong bore down on the Sou
danese.
Main Body Literally Mown Down.
Gen. Kitchener swung round the
center and left of the Soudanese and
seized the eminence, and the Egyp-
tians, hitherto in reserve, joined the
firing line in ten minutes, and before
the dervishes could drive their attack
home.
The flower of the khalifa's army was
caught in a depression and within a
zone of whitening cross-fire from three
brigades, with the attendant artillery.
The devoted Mahdists strove heroically
to make Roadway, but every rush was
stopped, while their main body was
literally mown down by sustained
deadly cross-fire.
Left the Field White with Jibbah-CIad
Corpses.
Defiantly the dervishes planted their
standards and died by them. Their
dense masses finally melted to COM
panies and the companies to driblets
beneath the leaden hail. Finally
they broke and fed, leaving the field
white with jibbah-clad corpses, like q
snow drift dotted meadow.
At 11:15 the sirdar ordered an adj
vance and our whole force in line
drove the scattered remnant of the
foe into the desert, our cavalry cutting
off their retreat to Omdurman.
Charged Home Against Appalling Odds.
Among the chief incidents of the bat
tie was a brilliant charge by the
Twentv-6rst lancers, under Lieut.
Col Martin. Galloping down on the
detached body of the enemy, they
found the dervish swordsmen massed
and were forced to charge home against
appalling odds. The lancers hacked
through the mass, rallied and kept the
dervish horde at bay. Lieut.. Grenfell,
was killed.
Egyptian Cavalry In Close Fighting.
The Egyptian cavalry were in close