Mower County transcript., 1898-09-07
STORY OF THE BATTLE.
Graphic Account of the Defeat OF the
Khalifa's Army. ~

Graphic Account of the Defeat OF the
Khalifa's Army. . -
OMDURMAN, Opposite Khartoum, Nu.'
bia, Sept. 2. The sirdar, General Sir
Herbert Kitchener, with the khalifa's
black standard, captured during the
battle, entered Omdurman. the capital
of Mahdiam, at o'clock this afternoon
1T the head of the Anglo Egg ptian col
nmn, after completely routing the Der
wishes, and dealing death blow to
Mahdism. Roughly, our losses were
300, while thousands of the Dervishes
were killed or wounded.
Last night the Anglo. Egg ptian army
encamped at Agaisa, eight miles from
miles distant At dawn today our cav.
airy, patrolling toward Omdurman,
discovered the ensmy advancing to the
attack in battle array, 80 =
Chanting War Songs. ?
Their front consisted of infantry and
cavalry stretched out for three or four
miles. T. :
At 7:20 a. m. the enemy crowded the
ridges above the camp and advanced
steadily in. enveloped form. At. 1880
our artillery opened fire, which was
answered by the Dervish rifemen.
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 balked, swept toward our cen.
ter, upon which they concentrated
fierce attack. A large force of horse.
men, trying to face continuous hail
of bullets from the Cameron High
landers, the Lincolnshire regiment and
the Soudanese
We're L terally Swept Away,
leading to the withdrawal Of the entire
party, whose dead strewed the field.
The bravery Of the Dervishes can
hardly be overestimated. Those who
carried the flags struggled to within a
few hundred yards of our fighting line,
while the mounted emirs absolutely
threw their lives away in bold charges.
When the Dervishes withdrew be-
hind the ridge in front Of their camp,
the whole force marched towards ON.
durman. As our troops surmounted
tho crest adjoining the Nile, the Sou.
danese, on our right, came into con.
tact with the enemy, who had reformed
under cover of rocky eminencs and
had massed beneath the black stan.
Hard of the khalifa, in order to make 4
supreme effort to
Retrieve the Fortunes Of the Day.
A mass, $4,000 strong, bore down on
the Soudanese. General Kitchener
swung round the center and left Of the
6oudansss and seized tho rock emi.
nencs, and tho Egyptians, hitherto in
reserve. joined the firing limo in 10
tninptss, sad before the Dervishes
could .drtIe their attack home, the
dowsr pfthe khalifa' . army was caught
In depression and within . zons Of
Withsrtn1I Cross fire from tthsss bri.
gadss with the attendant artillery.
The devoted Aahdists stroys heroio.s
ally 70 make hssdwsy, but evssy rush
was stopped while their main bedy
wss literally mown dowp bySa . sus.
tanned deadly fire. Dedantly the Dsr.;
wishes planted fhsir standards and
Il IDssA BssiAs Thsm.
Their dssp masses gradually melted
D. companies and the comp9pies toi
Aribbles beneath the leaden hail Final.
y they broke and fed, leaving the
field white with Nbban.olad corpsss.
At 1l:l6 the sirdar ordeSed an "a.