Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1898-10-20
THE MAHDISTS LAST STAND.
Hordes of Barbarism Against the
Legions of Civilization

In the great battle at Omdurman on
the Nile recently the Mahdists at
tackled $4,000 strong in three grand di-
visions. OF the charge in front G. w.
Stevens writes in the London Daily
Mail:
1T was now G:30. The flags seemed
still very distant, the roar very faint,
and the thud of our first gun was al
most startling. 1t may have startled
them, too, but it startled them into
life, The line of flags swung forward
and mass of white flying linen
swung forward with it, too. They
came very fast and they came very
straight and then presently they
came no further With a crash the
rifles. 1t began with the guards and
Warwicks- section volleys at 1000
yards; then as the dervishes edged
rightward it ran along to the High
landers, the Lincolns, ana 10 Max
wells brigade. The British stood
up in double rank behind their zariba;
the blacks lay down in their shelter
trench; both poured out death as
fast as they could load and press
trigger. Shrapne whistled and Max
inns growled savagely. From all the
line came perpetual fire, fire, fire,
and shrieked north in great gusts of
destruction
And the enemy? No white trooper
would have faced the torrent of
death for five minutes, but the Bag
CARA and the blacks came on. The
torrents swept into them and hurled
them down in whole companies. You
saw a rigid line gather itself up and
rush on evenly; then before shrap-
mel she'll or a Maxim the line sud
denly quiyered and stopped The
line was yet unbroken, but it was
quite still. But other lines gathered
up again, again, and yet again they
went down and yet others rushed on.
Sometimes they came near enough to
see single figures quite plainly One
old man with a white flag started
with five comrades; all dropped, but
he alone came bounding forward to
within the 200 yards of the -Four
teenth Soudanese. Then he folded his
arms across his face and his limbs
loosened and he dropped sprawling to
earth beside his flag.
1T was the last day of Mahdism.
and the greatest They could never
get near and they refused to hold
back. BY now the ground before us
was all white with dead mems
drapery Rifles grew red hot, the
soldiers seized them by the sings
and dragged them back to the reserve
to change for cool ones 1t was not
battle, but an execution.
There were losses on the British
side, say twenty-five TO a regiment.
But loss on this scale was not to be
considered beside the awful slaughter
of the deryishes. II they still came
on our men needed only time and am
muuition and strength to point a rifle
to kill them off to the very last man
Only by now-small wonderfully
were not coming on They were not
driven back, they We're all killed in
coming on one section OF fire after
another hushed and by s o'clock the
village and the plain were still again.
The last shell had burst over the last
visible group of deryishes, now there
was nothing but the unbending
grimIy eXpectant line before the
Agaiga and the still carpet OF white
in front
III was now twenty minutes to 10.
The British had crested low ridge
between Gebel Surgham and the Nile.
NaXwells brigade was Just ascend
ing it. Lewis just coming up under
the hill. Men who could go where
they liked were mp with the British
staring hungrily al Omdurman sud
denly from rearward broke ont
heavy cracllle OF fire We thought
perhaps a dozen men or SO had been
-hamming dead; we went on staring
a, Omdurman. But the next instant
we had 10 turn and Ealleped hot
aeelea back again For the crackle
became q crashing and the crashing
waxed 20 roar Dery.shes were