THE MASSACRE OF THE GREY RIVER (OUED ZERGA).
While M. Roustan was conducting General St. John to the audience-chamber
at Goletta, to receive, within twenty-four hours of his arrival in the
country, the highest honours of the Nichán Iftikhar, very alarming news
reached Tunis.
It appeared that on the previous day the Arabs who had attacked Ali Bey
afterwards surrounded Oued Zerga, the sixth station on the French
railway, some seventy miles from Tunis. Having torn up the railway line
on either side of the station, and thrown the rails into the river, they
attacked the station buildings, setting them on fire. The station-
master, M. Raimbert, was burnt alive, and ten other _employés_, nearly
all Maltese and Italians, were massacred. Having accomplished this
terrible act of vengeance, the Arabs retired. All traffic between Tunis
and Ghardimaou was immediately stopped. The Minister Resident invited
the English and Italian Consuls to assist at the official inquiry.
Accordingly the English and Italian consular clerks, medical officers,
and dragomans, proceeded to Oued Zerga by a special train, which
conveyed the French authorities and a supply of coffins to the scene of
the calamity. Six hundred French troops had already proceeded to the
spot, but long before their arrival the Arabs had disappeared. The
increased native ferment was undoubtedly caused to a great extent by the
wholesale destruction of the olive forests, villages, and vineyards
which General Sabatier considered necessary around Zaghouán, but this
latest outrage was unexpected, and naturally caused intense excitement
in Tunis itself.
The train which proceeded to the scene of the disaster did not return
the same evening as was expected, thereby increasing the wide-spread
anxiety of the European colonists. All that did come from Medjez was a
small bag containing the supposed remains of M. Raimbert. They only
consisted of some charred bones and a portion of burnt flesh, but they
were, I believe, identified by the buttons of his uniform. Early the
following morning they were interred in the Roman Catholic burial-ground
of Saint Antonio. In the afternoon the English and Italian officials
reached Tunis after a narrow escape of a rencontre with the Arabs; and
the prevalence of various alarming rumours, added to the impossibility
of placing any longer much reliance on the official reports
industriously circulated by the Tunisian Government, induced me to visit
Medjez-el-Bab. Medjez is a small town some fifty-five miles east of
Tunis, and is situated exactly seventeen miles due west of Oued Zerga
and fifteen miles to the north-west of Ali Bey’s camp at Testour.
Medjez-el-Bab is the fifth station from Tunis on the French railway, and
forms the eastern extremity of the vast and fertile valley of the
Medjerdah, which stretches inland from the Mediterranean, and is
traversed about twenty miles from the coast by the ruins of the great
Roman aqueduct which once united Carthage and Zaghouán. At Medjez-el-Bab
(Medjez-of-the-Gate) commences a series of wild mountain gorges and
picturesque ravines, through which the Medjerdah river finds its way
from the comparatively narrow Beja valley into the broader Tunis plain;
while a spur of the same rocky hills separates Medjez from the half-
ruined city of Testour. It was this district which now unexpectedly bade
fair to become the first battlefield of the Tunisian campaign.
The extraordinary events of the past week, the practical defeat of Sy
Ali Bey, followed by the daring raids of the insurgent Arabs on the
French railway in the defiles of Oued Zerga, for a moment diverted
public attention even from the coming march on Kairwán, and certainly
taxed General Logerot’s military skill to the utmost. A month ago the
plan for the expedition was simple enough. Ali Bey was to guard the
French railway, and maintain order in the apparently pacified northern
provinces of Tunis, while the French columns stamped out _manu militari_
the spirit of rebellion in the south. It now turned out that Ali Bey was
powerless to effect anything; that the tribes of the north were
gathering in thousands to create a diversion in aid of their brethren of
the south; and that notwithstanding the immediate presence of Ali Bey’s
troops, and the knowledge that there were 40,000 French troops in the
Regency, the insurgents had managed to obtain possession of the most
important strategic point on the French railway. There were hardly any
passengers by the afternoon train on Sunday, October 2d, and at Manouba
we received a guard of thirty soldiers, commanded by a lieutenant of the
73d Regiment. On passing Jedeida and Testour, the two villages which
were pillaged by the insurgents during the previous week, I noticed a
small camp of Tunisian soldiers near the railway. After three hours’
travelling the train reached Medjez-el-Bab. The station formed the
headquarters of Colonel De Bord, and a battalion of the 8th Regiment was
encamped on one side of it, and one of the 73d on the other. Water had
apparently run short, and the train brought a large supply from Tunis,
with which the railway reservoir was speedily filled. The soldiers were
nearly all young, but of good physique, and looked little the worse for
the hard fighting many of them had seen during the previous night, the
details of which I had no difficulty in ascertaining.
As soon as news of the Oued Zerga massacre reached Manouba, General
Logerot despatched a battalion of the 8th Regiment and two companies of
the 73d Regiment to Medjez and Oued Zerga. The line was repaired under
the protection of the men of the 73d Regiment, and, having effected a
junction, the troops proceeded by train to Beja. Later in the afternoon
a company of the 73d Regiment, escorting a number of invalid soldiers,
set out for Medjez. On quitting the first tunnel from Beja they found
the summit of the defile covered by Arabs, who commenced firing into the
train. The rails were now covered with stones, and the woodwork of all
the bridges was in flames. The French soldiers steadily returned the
Arab fire till they arrived at kilomètre 95, when the train left the
rails amid the shouts of the insurgents, who began rushing towards it.
Colonel De Bord then ordered Commandant Guelfucci to attack the heights,
and the Arabs were successfully dislodged from their position with some
loss. With extraordinary courage, however, they charged to within 100
mètres of the French guns. One French soldier was mortally wounded, and
two others injured. The Arabs ceased firing at dusk. An insurgent, who
endeavoured to kill the engine-driver, was shot on the line itself. The
young French troops, who were under fire for the first time, behaved
well against terrible odds. A company of the 8th Regiment, who guarded a
train sent in search of the missing soldiers, then arrived, and all the
troops now retired to Medjez, being compelled to do so owing to their
insufficient number, the presence of the invalids, and the want of
provisions. They consequently abandoned Oued Zerga and the wrecked
train, containing the bodies of the victims of last Friday’s massacre,
and brought back the English and Italian Consular officers to Medjez.
The retreat to Medjez was undoubtedly a prudent measure, and it was
probably owing to the Arabs’ ignorance of the exact number of the French
troops that Colonel De Bord’s little band escaped annihilation. The
officers seemed anxious that what had happened should be understood in
Europe, and gave the most detailed account of the incidents which
occurred on their journey from Beja. The order in the two camps was
excellent. The goods-shed was guarded by about twoscore of Tunisian
soldiers, who were in charge of the powder and stores which Ali Bey
officially certified to have arrived at Testour some days before; but as
many of them were smoking under the powder-waggons, the ultimate safety
of the Tunisian magazine seemed very problematical. The weapons of the
Bey’s contingent afforded great amusement to the French soldiers. I
noticed one ragged little Arab wearing a large cavalry sabre marked G.
R. 1792; and hardly two men were armed alike. The misfortunes of poor
Ali Bey, on the other side of the blue hills to the east, were no secret
at Medjez, and a very general feeling of generous indignation seemed to
prevail that French troops were not at once sent to his aid. Diplomacy
at Tunis and Paris was very heartily anathematised by the honest
soldiers at Medjez. “We believe,” they said, “Ali Bey has done his best
to fight for France, and how can France leave him to a certain
destruction?” For two days previous to my arrival no communication had
been received from him, although the frequent reports of his guns
testified to a renewed attack, but to-day Colonel Allegro had arrived
from Tunis with five Algerian horsemen, and early in the morning had
left Medjez at full gallop in the direction of the Tunisian camp. During
the afternoon I heard an interesting account of the Oued Zerga massacre
from an eye-witness, Luigi Bisi, a foreman of platelayers, who himself
had a very narrow escape. He was at work on Friday morning, September
30th, at kilomètre 98, and suddenly saw the cliffs near the line covered
with Arab horsemen, one of whom was carrying a green standard. He first
thought they were Ali Bey’s troops, but they descended to the railway,
crossed the Medjerdah river, and attacked the workmen at kilomètre 97.
Hearing several shots, he and his companions fled to Beja, being hotly
pursued for four miles. Later on he proceeded, with a train guarded by
soldiers, towards Oued Zerga. At kilomètre 99 he found the watchman’s
house pillaged and destroyed; also the bodies of two Maltese brothers,
named Farrugia, and of an Italian, burnt and horribly mutilated; in a
cellar they found a wounded Italian, who has since died in the Tunis
Hospital. At bridge No. 10 they discovered the foreman, Fiorali, an
Italian, burnt to death. Sixty mètres beyond, three Maltese were found
burnt and indescribably disfigured at kilomètre 95. The bridge No. 14
was on fire, and two other corpses were on the line. The rails here were
destroyed. Having repaired the line the train approached Oued Zerga. He
saw the station and several carriages burning. Suddenly the train left
the rails. They went forward on foot, preceded by soldiers. Close to the
station Bisi saw two bodies burning on a pile of tarred sleepers, over
which several cans of oil and grease had been apparently emptied.
Leaving Oued Zerga, they walked to Medjez, arriving early on Saturday
morning. Of eleven victims whose bodies were recovered by Bisi six are
Maltese, three are Italian, and two are French.
The official report presented to the British Consul-General contains
some additional details. Mr. Carbonaro writes:—
“While I was waiting on Saturday for the special train which was to
convey us to Medjez, the ordinary afternoon mail arrived. I saw the
guard deliver to the station-master a bag containing about ten pounds
weight of charred flesh, which he said formed the remains of the late M.
Emile Raimbert. We did not reach Oued Zerga till dusk. The station and
one of the carriages were still burning. Among the ashes of a large pile
of sleepers, which had burnt fiercely, some carbonised bones were
collected, but it was impossible to say if they belonged to the body of
M. Raimbert or an Arab servant who had shared his fate. I observed that
some tins of petroleum and grease had been used to facilitate the
destruction of the buildings, and that the water-reservoir had been
destroyed, apparently with a view of preventing any subsequent attempt
to extinguish the fire. The only living being we found at Oued Zerga was
a young negro, who had been employed at the station. He told me that
while the Arabs were killing M. Raimbert, he succeeded in concealing
himself in the cellar, but that another Mussulman, who had only been in
the railway company’s service about fifteen days, discovered his hiding-
place and shouted to the Arabs, ‘Here is another dog,’ whereupon he was
seized and bound hand and foot. After a delay it was decided that the
negro should remain a prisoner, and he was carried to a mountain near
Beja, beyond Ain Tonga, where a large meeting of Arabs took place, and a
discussion ensued as to whether they should join in an attack on Ali Bey
or continue the destruction of the line. During the night he managed to
escape, and returned to Oued Zerga, which he found deserted and in
flames. He said that besides those known to have been killed, he saw
several Maltese and Italians running before the Arabs, but of whom
nothing had been heard since. After a long delay, we reached the waggon
containing the bodies of the victims about midnight. The confusion that
prevailed is beyond description; the French had been attacked during the
evening, the Beja train had also gone off the rails, a fresh assault by
the Arabs was momentarily expected, it was raining in torrents, and it
was quite impossible to get the carriage containing the bodies across
the broken lines. Within the waggon I distinctly saw eight bodies, three
of them only superficially burnt, and still capable of being identified.
They all bore marks of sword and gun-shot wounds. The following Maltese
were recognised:—Giuseppe Farugia, of Cassal Zurrico; his brother,
Vincenzo; one Pubblio, the son of Francesco; and Leonardo Scicluna.”
Shortly after five P.M. we observed Colonel Allegro and his companions
riding swiftly towards Medjez from the hills, and he presently reached
the station. He had succeeded in eluding the vigilance of the insurgents
and had seen Ali Bey. I had a long conversation with Colonel Allegro,
who was dressed as an Arab chief, and his description of his adventurous
ride was very interesting. Colonel Allegro has a strong opinion on two
points—first, that Tunis must be at once occupied; and, secondly, that
Ali Bey must be of necessity relieved by French troops. His opinion
should certainly have some weight with the authorities, but as the
campaign seems to be partly directed by General Farre, partly by M.
Saint-Hilaire, partly by M. Roustan, and partly by General Logerot, and,
as none of them can agree on any one course of action, it is impossible
to tell what will happen. One thing only is certain, and that is that
Ali Ben Amar, the one-armed chief of the Ouled Ben Ayar, has by his
attack on Ali Bey and his well-planned diversion on the French railway,
caused the usually accepted plan for the winter campaign to tumble to
pieces like a house of playing-cards, and postponed for a short time the
fate of holy Kairwán. Ali Bey undertook to protect the line of railway
from Ghardimaou to Tunis, while General Logerot advanced on Kairwán from
Manouba, General Sabatier from Zaghouán, General Philibert from the
Enfida, General Étienne from Susa, and General Saussier in person from
Tebessa, but it now turns out that unless Ali Bey is himself protected,
both he and his army are in danger of speedy destruction, and that
unless Ali Ben Amar’s forces are defeated, three-fourths of the French
railway will be hopelessly ruined. The Bone-Guelma Company ridicule as
an absurdity the protection of Ali Bey and his mutinous followers, and
declare that General Logerot’s plans will bring about the loss of their
valuable line. The General is unwilling to change his original design,
and everything has come to a temporary deadlock. Troops are hurrying in
hot haste to Medjez; the railway authorities threaten to abandon their
line unless General Logerot will efficiently protect it, and Ali Ben
Amar is endeavouring to capture Ali Bey’s artillery. Before anything can
be decided on, Ali Ben Amar and his army will have disappeared, but the
necessity for a military demonstration in the north before one is
attempted in the south will remain. Although the army of occupation will
soon reach 50,000 men, the officers themselves believe that nothing can
be done before the opening of the Chambers three weeks hence. The truth
is, that nobody is sure of his position, and nobody is willing to incur
present responsibility and possible blame. Meanwhile, the Arabs secretly
rejoice in the visible discomfiture of the French councils, and regard
Ali Ben Amar as a hero worthy of their old traditions. The non-
occupation of Tunis is pointed out as a glaring sign of weakness, the
unfortunate consequences of which may at any moment become a still more
unfortunate reality.
In the evening I left Medjez and returned to Tunis.