Part 18 (1/2)

The bombardment of Alexandria, which commenced the war in Egypt, was of the highest interest to naval men; for here, for the first time, ironclad s.h.i.+ps, armed with new and heavy ordnance, attacked forts mounted with the heaviest guns. A bloodless revolution had taken place in Egypt. The army, headed by Arabi Pasha, had quietly pushed aside the authority of the Khedive, and had become supreme in Egypt. The people at large were with the army, and regarded the movement as a national one; its object being to emanc.i.p.ate the country from foreign control.

England was unable to behold the change without apprehension; the Khedive was her own nominee, and had from the commencement of the trouble with the army acted entirely in accordance with the advice of the representative of England. We had a large stake in the country from the numerous loans which had been raised for the most part in England; but we were princ.i.p.ally affected by the fact that the rebels would have it in their power to stop the ca.n.a.l, and so to block the highway to our Eastern possessions.

The Egyptians began to manifest a hostile spirit towards foreigners, and an attack was made upon the Europeans in Alexandria; a large number were killed, and the rest compelled to take shelter on board a s.h.i.+p. A powerful English fleet was a.s.sembled in the port of Alexandria; the att.i.tude of the Egyptians became more and more threatening, and they proceeded to throw up batteries to command the British fleet. Admiral Seymour, who was in command, peremptorily called upon them to desist; but in spite of his threat to open fire upon them they continued to work upon the forts; the fleet therefore prepared for action. All neutral s.h.i.+ps were warned to withdraw from the harbour, and the fleet then steamed out and took up its position facing the outer forts.

At seven o'clock on the morning of the 5th of July 1882, the signal to engage the batteries was made on board the admiral's s.h.i.+p the _Invincible_; and the _Invincible, Monarch_, and _Penelope_ immediately opened fire on the forts known as the Mex batteries; while the _Sultan, Alexandria, Superb_, and _Inflexible_, at the same moment, opened fire on the forts at Pharos Point and Ras-el-Tin. The Egyptians were standing at their guns, and instantly replied to the fire. The gunboats were lying in a second line behind the line of battle-s.h.i.+ps, but the sailors who manned them were not content to remain idle, and, though without orders to engage, the _Cygnet_ soon crept in close enough to use her guns. The _Condor_ steamed away to the west, and engaged alone and unsupported the Marabout Fort. The admiral, seeing the disproportion of force between the Egyptian fort and the little gunboat, signalled the _Bittern_ and _Beacon_ to join her. The _Decoy_ went of her own accord, and the other gunboats and the _Cygnet_ also moved off to aid in pounding the Marabout Fort.

The roar of the heavy guns of the fleet and batteries was tremendous, and on both sides cannon of vastly heavier metal than had ever before been used in war were sending their deadly messengers. The Egyptians stuck to their guns with the greatest bravery, but their skill was far from being equal to their courage, and the greatest portion of their shot flew high over the vessels; this was especially the case with the heavy guns, the lighter and more manageable pieces were better aimed, and the round shot continually struck the men-of-war but failed to penetrate their iron sides. On the other hand, the huge shot and sh.e.l.l of the ironclads committed terrible devastation on the batteries. These were for the most part constructed of stone, which crumbled and fell in great ma.s.ses under the tremendous blows of the English shot and sh.e.l.l.

After an hour's continued firing the return from the forts began to slacken. Many of the guns were dismounted, and rugged gaps appeared in their walls; but it was not for three hours later that the Egyptian gunners were driven from their pieces. Even then they continued to fire steadily from several of their forts. At one o'clock the gunboats had silenced the fire of the Marabout Fort, and proceeded to aid the _Invincible, Monarch_, and _Penelope_ in their bombardment on the Mex batteries; and the _Temeraire_, which had hitherto been engaged with a fort commanding the Boghaz Channel, joined the _Alexandria, Sultan_, and _Superb_, and their fire completely silenced the Pharos forts and blew up the enemy's powder magazine. By four o'clock in the afternoon, the enemy's fire ceased altogether, but for another hour and a half the fleet continued to pound the forts.

The action was decisive; almost every Egyptian gun was dismounted, the forts were riddled with holes and reduced to ruins, and the slaughter of the Egyptian artillery was very great, while on the English side the casualties amounted to only 5 killed and 28 wounded. So tremendous was the effect produced by the fire of the British guns, that the Egyptian soldiers entirely lost heart, and although the fleet carried no force capable of effecting the capture of the town, if staunchly defended, the Egyptians at once evacuated Alexandria. The European quarter was plundered and fired by the mob of the town, and an enormous amount of damage done.

As soon as the place was found to be evacuated, a strong body of marines and bluejackets landed and took possession of it, and speedily restored order, and held the city until the arrival of the troops from England.

Sir Archibald Alison came out and took command of the force on sh.o.r.e, and, sallying out with 600 men, captured the waterworks at Ramleh--an important position between the sea and the ca.n.a.l, and facing the camp of Arabi's army some four miles distant; here, for some time, artillery duels from time to time went on between the guns of the two armies.

Captain Fisher of the Royal Navy took possession of a railway train and made of it a moving battery. Its armament consisted of two heavy guns and some gatlings; the trucks were protected by sand-bags, and the battery was manned by sailors. This train did great service, as the line of railway ran from Alexandria through the rebel camp, and when reconnaissances were made the movable battery accompanied the troops, and by its fire greatly facilitated the operation.

Until the end of July the princ.i.p.al part of the work of defending Alexandria and checking the army of Arabi fell upon the Naval Brigade, but by that time so large a number of troops had arrived that the services of the sailors on sh.o.r.e were no longer required, and, with the exception of those serving in Captain Fisher's battery, they returned to their respective s.h.i.+ps. The marines, however, remained on sh.o.r.e and took part in a sharp engagement which took place on the 5th of August.

Sir Archibald Alison was desirous of discovering the exact position and force of Arabi's advance line of defences, and a reconnaissance, composed of six companies of the 60th Rifles, four companies of the 38th, and four of the 46th, were told off for the service; and seven companies of marines under Colonel Tewson were ordered to advance along the railway embankment in company with the ironclad train. The Rifles were to march by the ca.n.a.l, and the two parties would join at the point where the ca.n.a.l and railway approach closely to each other. The ground between the line taken by the two columns consisted of fields and marshy swamps.

No sooner had the advance begun than a movement was visible in the enemy's lines, and the Egyptians were soon seen extending in skirmis.h.i.+ng order 1000 yards in front of the 60th. They took up their position in a deep ditch which crossed the British line of advance, and behind which was a thick jungle, and opened a heavy fire upon the Rifles. The troops advanced steadily in skirmis.h.i.+ng order, opening fire upon their almost invisible foes, whose heads only could be seen when they raised them to discharge their muskets. The Egyptians fired high, and although a hail of bullets swept over the heads of the advancing troops there were but few casualties. When the Rifles approached the ditch, the supports were brought up and a rush was made, when the Egyptians at once forsook their position and fled through the jungle.

In the meantime, the marines, advancing along the embankment, had been met by a hot fire from the enemy, whose main position here was a large house, surrounded by entrenchments on which some guns were mounted. The forty-pounder on the moving battery kept up a steady fire on this position; while the marines, pus.h.i.+ng forward, were hotly engaged with the enemy's infantry. The two columns advanced abreast until they reached a point some 600 yards from the spot where the railway and ca.n.a.l come together; the embankment was strongly held by the Egyptians, but the marines charged them with fixed bayonets and drove them before them--bayoneting and shooting great numbers.

By this time the enemy were coming up in great strength from their camps. The marines were now unsupported, for Colonel Thackwell, who commanded the other column, had received orders to advance to the White House. There were two white houses on the ca.n.a.l, and he stopped at the first, whereas the second was the one intended; the marines having pushed on farther, were therefore entirely without support, and the enemy, ma.s.sing in great numbers, threatened them on both flanks. The order was therefore given to fall back, but in order to check the enemy while the movement was being carried out, Major Donald with 50 marines advanced boldly close up to the Egyptian position, and kept up so hot a fire that the enemy's advance was checked, while the main body of the marines retired steadily across the fields to the embankment, keeping perfect order in spite of the tremendous fire which was poured into them, and bringing off every wounded man as he fell.

The enemy had now brought up several batteries of artillery, which opened from a distance, and under this cover pressed hotly upon the marines; these, however, retired in alternate companies, turning round and facing their pursuers, and aided by the musketry fire of the sailors in the train as well as by their machine guns and forty-pounder.

Darkness was fast coming on, and as the batteries at the waterworks now opened fire upon the Egyptians, the latter ceased to press the retiring troops, who withdrew without further molestation to their position at Ramleh.

When the main body of troops from England reached Alexandria, with Sir Garnet Wolseley in supreme command, steps were taken to remove the scene of war to Ismailia--half-way along the Suez Ca.n.a.l--in order to advance upon Cairo from that place, and to avoid the necessity for attacking the formidable works which Arabi had erected facing Alexandria. The plan was kept a profound secret: the troops were placed on board the transports, and, escorted by the fleet, steamed away to Port Said at the mouth of the Suez Ca.n.a.l, and then up the ca.n.a.l to Ismailia.

In spite of the efforts of the sailors, upon whom the burden of the operation of disembarkation fell, there was considerable delay before the troops were in a position to advance, and Arabi was able to collect a large army at Tel-el-Kebir, on the line by which the army would have to advance. While the preparations for a forward movement were going on, a portion of the British troops pushed forward; and a brigade, among whom was a battalion of the marines, occupied Ka.s.sa.s.sin, a few miles distant from the Egyptian position.

On the 10th of September, Arabi, seeing how small was the force which had taken up its post near him, determined to attack them, with the intention of crus.h.i.+ng them first, and then advancing and destroying one by one the small bodies of British troops at the posts on the line down to Ismailia. He advanced with a powerful force, and so quickly did he push forward that the British had scarcely time to get under arms when the Egyptian sh.e.l.l began to fall fast in the camp. The little force fell in with the greatest coolness, and the marines and 60th Rifles advanced in skirmis.h.i.+ng order to meet the vastly superior numbers of the Egyptians. So staunchly and steadily did they fight, that they were able to keep their a.s.sailants at bay until the English cavalry came up from the next post, and, falling upon the Egyptians in flank, completely routed them. At the battle of Tel-el-Kebir, where Arabi's army was completely defeated and the rebellion finally crushed, the marines, who had hitherto borne the brunt of all the fighting which had taken place, were not in the front line of attack, and bore but little share in the fighting, which was done almost entirely by the Highland Brigade.

CAMPAIGN AGAINST THE MAHDI--1883-1885.

After the English had broken up the Egyptian army, and had, for a time at least, practically a.s.sumed the direction of affairs there, they found themselves face to face with an insurrection under a fanatic who a.s.sumed the t.i.tle of the Mahdi. The followers of this man had overrun the whole of the Soudan, shutting up the various Egyptian garrisons in the towns they occupied. One of the chiefs of the Mahdi, named Osman Digma, was threatening the port of Suakim, on the Red Sea, and had besieged the Egyptian garrisons in the towns of Sinkat and Tokar. Admiral Hewett was ordered to protect Suakim, and with the _Ranger, Sphinx, Euryalus_, and _Decoy_ took his station off that town.

Several times Osman Digma's followers came close up to the place, but, whenever they did so, the bluejackets and marines from the four English s.h.i.+ps were landed, and the men-of-war opened a fire over the town upon the ground which the rebels must cross to reach it. Thus they succeeded in defending Suakim from any serious attack until Baker Pasha, who was in command of a miscellaneous force known as the Egyptian Police, came down with some thousands of newly-raised troops. These men had received but little drill, and were scarce worthy the name of soldiers; but, as the garrisons of Sinkat and Tokar still held out, although sorely pressed by hunger, Baker Pasha determined to make an effort to relieve them, although he and his officers were well aware of the wholly untrustworthy nature of the force at his command. There were plenty of English troops doing nothing in Egypt, and had but one regiment been sent down to Baker Pasha it would have been worth all the armed rabble he had under him; but the English Government could not at the time bring itself to acknowledge its responsibility for the safety of the Egyptian garrisons.

Baker's force was conveyed down the coast to Trinkatat; Admiral Hewett with some of the s.h.i.+ps going down with him. The force was landed and marched towards Tokar; on the way it was attacked by the tribesmen who had embraced the cause of Osman Digma. The undisciplined levies of Baker broke at once when attacked; their English officers fought gallantly; many were killed, and the greater portion of the Egyptians ma.s.sacred almost unresistingly; the rest fled to Trinkatat. The rebels, fearing to come within range of the guns of the English s.h.i.+ps, ceased from their pursuit, and the survivors of Baker's force were able to get on board the vessels in safety.

The result of this defeat was that the garrison of Sinkat, who had held out heroically, finding themselves without a hope of relief, and their provisions being wholly exhausted, marched out and tried to cut their way through the besieged town to the coast. They were, however, exterminated, not a man making his way through to tell the tale.

Tokar also fell into the Mahdists' hands, its garrison having accepted terms of surrender; and thus Osman Digma was left free to attack Suakim itself, which but for the presence of the fleet must have fallen into his hands.