THE SUBLIME PORTE
As soon as the diplomatic relations between Austria and Serbia had
been broken, the Turkish Grand Vizier informed the diplomatic corps
in Constantinople that Turkey would remain neutral in the conflict.
The declaration was not formal, for war had not yet been declared.
The policy of Turkey, as represented in the ministerial paper,
_Tasfiri-Efkiar_, was as follows:
“Turkey has never asked for war, as she always has worked toward
avoiding it, but neutrality does not mean indifference. The present
Austro-Serbian conflict is to a supreme degree interesting to us. In
the first place, one of our erstwhile opponents is fighting against
a much stronger enemy. In the natural course of things Serbia, which
till lately was expressing, in a rather open way, her solidarity as a
nation, still provoking us, and Greece, will be materially weakened.
In the second place, the results of this war may surpass the limits
of the conflict between two countries, and in that case our interests
will be just as materially affected. We must, therefore, keep our eyes
open, as the circumstances are momentarily changing, and do not permit
us to let escape certain advantages which we can secure by active, and
rightly acting, diplomacy. The policy of neutrality will impose on us
the obligation of avoiding to side with either of the belligerents. But
the same policy will force us to take all the necessary measures for
safeguarding our interests and our frontiers.”
Whereupon a Turkish mobilization was at once ordered. The war had
hardly begun when Turkey received the news that her two battleships,
building in British yards, had been taken over by England. A bitter
feeling against England was at once aroused, Turkish mobs proceeded to
attack the British stores and British subjects, and attempts were even
made against the British embassy in Constantinople, and the British
consulate at Smyrna.
[Illustration: STRETCH OR TERRITORY CONTROLLED BY TURKEY IN 1914]
At this time Turkey was in a peculiar position. For a century she had
been on the best of terms with France and Great Britain. On the other
hand Russia had been her hereditary enemy. She was still suffering
from her defeat by the Balkan powers, and her statesmen saw in this
war great possibilities. She desired to recover her lost provinces in
Europe, and saw at once that she could hope for little from the Allies
in this direction.
For some years, too, German intrigues, and, according to report, German
money had enabled the German Government to control the leading Turkish
statesmen. German generals, under General Liman von Sanders, were
practically in control of the Turkish army. The commander-in-chief was
Enver Bey, who had been educated in Germany and was more German than
the Germans. A new system of organization for the Turkish army had
been established by the Germans, which had substituted the mechanical
German system for the rough and inefficient Turkish methods. Universal
conscription provided men, and the Turkish soldier has always been
known as a good soldier. Yet as it turned out the German training
did little for him. Under his own officers he could fight well, but
under German officers, fighting for a cause which he neither liked nor
understood, he was bound to fail.
At first the Turkish mobilization was conducted in such a way as to be
ready to act in common with Bulgaria in an attack against Greek and
Serbian Macedonia, as soon as the Austrians had obtained a decisive
victory over the Serbians. The entry of Great Britain into the war
interfered with this scheme. Meantime, though not at war, the Turks
were suffering almost as much as if war had been declared. Greedy
speculators took advantage of the situation, and the government itself
requisitioned everything it could lay its hands on.
A Constantinople correspondent, writing on the 6th of August, says as
follows:
“Policemen and sheriffs followed by military officers are taking by
force everything in the way of foodstuffs, entering the bakeries and
other shops selling victuals, boarding ships with cargoes of flour,
potatoes, wheat and rice, and taking over virtually everything, giving
in lieu of payment a receipt which is not worth even the paper on
which it is written. In this way many shops are forced to close, bread
has entirely disappeared from the bakeries, and Constantinople, the
capital of a neutral country, is already feeling all the troubles and
privations of a besieged city. Prices for foodstuffs have soared
to inaccessible heights, as provisions are becoming scarce. Actual
hand-to-hand combats are taking place in the streets outside the
bakeries for the possession of a loaf of bread, and hungry women with
children in their arms are seen crying and weeping with despair. Many
merchants, afraid lest the government requisition their goods, hasten
to have their orders canceled, the result being that no merchandise
of any kind is coming to Constantinople either from Europe or from
Anatolia. Both on account of the recruiting of their employees, and of
shortage of coal, the companies operating electric tramways of the city
have reduced their service to the minimum, as no power is available for
the running of the cars. Heartrending scenes are witnessed in front of
the closed doors of the various banking establishments, where large
posters are to be seen bearing the inscription ‘Closed temporarily by
order of the government.’”
Immediately after war was declared between Germany and Russia the
Porte ordered the Bosporus and Dardanelles closed to every kind of
shipping, at the same time barring the entrances of these channels
with rows of mines. The first boat to suffer from this measure was a
British merchantman which was sunk outside the Bosporus, while another
had a narrow escape in the Dardanelles. A large number of steamers of
every nationality waited outside the straits for the special pilot
boats of the Turkish Government, in order to pass in safety through the
dangerous mine field. This measure of closing the straits was suggested
to Turkey by Austria and Germany, and was primarily intended against
Russia, as it was feared that her Black Sea fleet might force its way
into the sea of Marmora and the Ægean.
On August 2d the Turkish Parliament was prorogued, so that all
political power might center around the Imperial throne. A vigorous
endeavor was made to strengthen the Turkish navy. Djemal Pasha was
placed at its head with Arif Bey as chief of the naval staff. Talaat
Bey and Halil Bey were sent to Bucharest to exchange views with
Roumanian statesmen, and representatives of the Greek Government, in
regard to the outstanding Greco-Turkish difficulties.
On September 10th an official announcement from the Sublime Porte was
issued defining in the first place many constitutional reforms, and in
particular abolishing the capitulation, that is, the concessions made
by law to foreigners, allowing them participation in the administration
of justice, exemption from taxation, and special protection in their
business transactions. In abolishing these capitulations the Ottoman
Government declared that it would treat foreign countries in accordance
with the rules of international law, and that it was acting without any
hostile feeling against any of the foreign states.
The Allied governments formally protested against this action of the
Turkish Government. Meantime Constantinople was the center of most
elaborate intrigues. The Turkish Government grew more and more warlike,
and began to threaten, not only Greece, but Russia and the Triple
Entente as well. During this period the Turkish press maintained an
active campaign against England and the Allies. Every endeavor was made
by the Sublime Porte to secure Roumanian or Bulgarian co-operation in a
militant policy. The Allies, seeing the situation, made many promises
to Bulgaria, Greece and Roumania. Bulgaria was offered Adrianople and
Thrace; Greece was to have Smyrna, and Roumania the Roumanian provinces
in Austria. The jealousy of these powers of each other prevented an
agreement. The influence of Germany became more and more preponderant
with the Ottoman Empire; indeed, it is probable that an understanding
had existed between the two powers from the beginning. The action of
the Turkish Government in regard to the Goeben and Breslau could hardly
have been possible unless with a previous understanding. At last the
rupture came. The following was the official Turkish version of the
events which led to the Turkish declaration of war:
“While on the 27th of October a small part of the Turkish fleet
was maneuvering on the Black Sea, the Russian fleet, which at first
confined its activities to following and hindering every one of our
movements, finally, on the 29th, unexpectedly began hostilities by
attacking the Ottoman fleet. During the naval battle which ensued the
Turkish fleet, with the help of the Almighty, sank the mine layer
Pruth, inflicted severe damage on one of the Russian torpedo boats,
and captured a collier. A torpedo from the Turkish torpedo boat
Gairet-i-Millet sank the Russian destroyer Koubanietz, and another from
the Turkish torpedo boat Mouavenet-i-Millet inflicted serious damage
on a Russian coast guard ship. Three officers and seventy-two sailors
rescued by our men and belonging to the crews of the damaged and sunken
vessels of the Russian fleet have been made prisoners. The Ottoman
Imperial Fleet, glory be given to the Almighty, escaped injury, and the
battle is progressing favorably for us. Information received from our
fleet, now in the Black Sea, is as follows:
“From accounts of Russian sailors taken prisoners, and from the
presence of a mine layer among the Russian fleet, evidence is gathered
that the Russian fleet intended closing the entrance to the Bosporus
with mines, and destroying entirely the Imperial Ottoman fleet,
after having split it in two. Our fleet, believing that it had to
face an unexpected attack, and supposing that the Russians had begun
hostilities without a formal declaration of war, pursued the scattered
Russian fleet, bombarded the port of Sebastopol, destroyed in the city
of Novorossisk fifty petroleum depots, fourteen military transports,
some granaries, and the wireless telegraph station. In addition to
the above our fleet has sunk in Odessa a Russian cruiser, and damaged
severely another. It is believed that this second boat was likewise
sunk. Five other steamers full of cargoes lying in the same port were
seriously damaged. A steamship belonging to the Russian volunteer fleet
was also sunk, and five petroleum depots were destroyed. In Odessa and
Sebastopol the Russians from the shore opened fire against our fleet.”
The Sultan at once declared war against Russia, England and France, and
issued a proclamation to his troops, declaring that he had called them
to arms to resist aggression and that “the very existence of our Empire
and of three hundred million Moslems whom I have summoned by sacred
Fetwa to a supreme struggle, depend on your victory. Do not forget that
you are brothers in arms of the strongest and bravest armies of the
world, with whom we are now fighting shoulder to shoulder.”
The Fetwa, or proclamation announcing a holy war, called upon all
Mussulmans capable of carrying arms, and even upon Mussulman women
to fight against the powers with whom the Sultan was at war. In this
manner the holy war became a duty, not only for all Ottoman subjects,
but for the three hundred million Moslems of the earth. On November
5th Great Britain declared war against Turkey, ordered the seizure in
British ports of Turkish vessels, and, by an order in Council, annexed
the Island of Cyprus. On the 17th of December, the Khedive Abbas II,
having thrown in his lot with Turkey and fled to Constantinople, Egypt
was formally proclaimed a British Protectorate. The title of Khedive
was abolished, and the throne of Egypt, with the title of Sultan, was
offered to Prince Hussein Kamel Pasha, the eldest living prince of the
house of Mahomet Ali, an able and enlightened man. This meant that
Britain was now wholly responsible for the defense of Egypt. The new
Sultan of Egypt made his state entry on December 20th into the Abdin
Palace in Cairo. The progress of the new ruler was received with great
enthusiasm by thousands of spectators.
The King of England sent a telegram of congratulation with his promise
of support:
On the occasion when your Highness enters upon your high office I
desire to convey to your Highness the expression of my most sincere
friendship, and the assurance of my unfailing support in safeguarding
the integrity of Egypt, and in securing her future well being and
prosperity. Your Highness has been called upon to undertake the
responsibilities of your high office at a grave crisis in the
national life of Egypt, and I feel convinced that you will be able,
with the co-operation of your Ministers, and the Protectorate of
Great Britain, successfully to overcome all the influences which are
seeking to destroy the independence of Egypt and the wealth, liberty
and happiness of its people.
This was Britain’s answer to the Turkish proclamation of war. The
Turks had not taken this warlike course with entire unanimity. The
Sultan, the Grand Vizier, and Djavid Bey were in favor of peace, but
Enver Pasha and his colleagues overruled them. The Odessa incident was
unjustified aggression, deliberately planned to provoke hostilities.
The tricky and corrupt German diplomacy had won its point.
It is interesting to observe that the proclamation of the holy war,
a favorite German scheme, fell flat. The Kaiser, and his advisers,
had counted much upon this raising of the sacred flag. The Kaiser
had visited Constantinople and permitted himself to be exploited as
a sympathizer with Mohammedanism. Photographs of him had been taken
representing him in Mohammedan garb, accompanied by Moslem priests, and
a report had been deliberately circulated throughout Turkey that he
had become a Moslem. The object of this camouflage was to stir up the
Mohammedans in the countries controlled by England, risings were hoped
for in Egypt and India, and German spies had been distributed through
those countries to encourage religious revolts. But there was almost no
response. The Sultan, it is true, was the head of the Church, but who
was the Sultan? The old Sultan, now dethroned, and imprisoned, or this
new and insignificant creature placed on the throne by the young Turk
party? The Mohammedan did not feel himself greatly moved.
At the beginning of the war Turkey found herself unable to make any
move to recover her provinces in Thrace. Greece and Bulgaria were
neutral, and could not be attacked. Placing herself, therefore, in
the hands of her German advisers, she moved her new army to those
frontiers where it could meet the powers with whom she was at war. In
particular Germany and Austria desired her aid in Transcaucasia against
the Russian armies. An attack upon Russia from that quarter would
mean that many troops which otherwise would have been used against the
Central Powers must be sent to the Caucasus. The Suez Canal, too, must
be attacked. An expedition there would compel Great Britain to send out
troops, and perhaps would encourage the hoped-for rebellion in Egypt
and give an opportunity for religious insurrection in India, where the
Djehad was being preached among the Mohammedan tribes in the northwest.
The Dardanelles, to be sure, might be threatened, but the Germans had
sent there many heavy guns and fortifications had been built which, in
expert opinion, made Constantinople safe.
The Turkish offensive along her eastern frontier in Transcaucasia
and in Persia was first undertaken. The Persian Gulf had long been
controlled by Great Britain; even in the days of Elizabeth the East
India Company had fought with Dutch and Portuguese rivals for control
of its commerce. The English had protected Persia, suppressed piracy
and slavery, and introduced sanitary measures in the marshes along
the coast. They regarded a control of the Persian Gulf as necessary
for the prosperity of India and the Empire. The Turkish Government had
never had great power along the Persian Gulf. Bagdad, indeed, had been
captured by Suleiman the Magnificent in the sixteenth century, but in
eastern Arabia lived many independent Arabian chieftains who had no
idea of subjecting themselves to Turkish rule.
For years Germany had been looking with jealous eyes in this direction.
Her elaborate intrigues with Turkey were mainly designed to open up
the way to the Persian Gulf. She had planned a great railway to open
up trade, and her endeavor to build the Bagdad Railway is a story in
itself. Her efforts had lasted for many years, but she found herself
constantly blocked by the agents of Great Britain.
Before the Ottoman troops were ready, the British in the Gulf had
made a start. On November 7th a British force under Brigadier-General
Delamain bombarded the Turkish fort at Falon, landed troops and
occupied the village. Sailing north from this point they disembarked
at Sanijah, where they entrenched themselves and waited for
reinforcements. On November 13th reinforcements arrived, and on
November 17th the British army advanced toward Sahain. From there they
moved on Sahil, where they encountered a Turkish force. Some lively
fighting ensued and the Turks broke and fled. Turkish casualties were
about one thousand five hundred men, the English killed numbered
thirty-eight.
The British then moved on Basra, moving by steamer along the
Shat-el-Arab River. On November 22d Basra was reached and it was found
that the Turks had evacuated the place. A base camp was then prepared,
for it was certain that there would be further fighting. Bagdad was
only about three hundred miles distant; and fifty miles above Basra, at
the junction of the Tigris and the Euphrates, lies the town of Kurna
where the Turks were gathering an army. On December 4th an attack was
made on Kurna but without success. The British obtained reinforcements,
but on December 9th the Turkish garrison surrendered unconditionally.
The British troops then entrenched themselves, having established a
barricade against a hostile advance upon India.
Farther north the war was between Turkey and Russia. Since Persia had
no military power, each combatant was able to occupy that country
whenever they desired. The Turks advanced into Persia south of Lake
Urmia, and, meeting with no resistance from Persia, moved northward
toward the Russian frontier. On the 30th of January, 1915, Russian
troops heavily defeated the invaders and followed them south as far
as Tabriz, which they occupied and held. The Russian armies had also
undertaken movements in this section. In the extreme northwest of
Persia a Russian column had crossed the frontier, and occupied, on the
3d of November, the town of Bayazid close to Mt. Ararat. Other columns
entered Kurdestan, and an expedition against Van was begun. Further
north another Russian column crossed the frontier and captured the
town of Karakilissa, but was held there by the Turks.
These were minor expeditions. The real struggle was in Transcaucasia,
where the main body of the Turkish army under Enver Pasha himself
was in action. At this point the boundaries of Turkey touch upon the
Russian Empire. To the north is the Great Russian fortress of Kars,
to the south and west the Turkish stronghold of Erzerum. The whole
district is a great mountain tangle, the towns standing at an altitude
of 5,000 and 6,000 feet, surrounded by lofty hills. None of the roads
are good, and in winter the passes are almost impassable. In all the
wars between Russia and Turkey, these mountain regions have been the
scenes of desperate battles.
The Turkish plan of battle was to entice the Russians from Sarakamish
across the frontier, leading them on to some distance from their base,
then, while holding their front, a second force was to swing around and
attack them on the left flank. The plan was simple, the difficulty
was the swing of the left flank, which had to be made through mountain
paths, deeply covered with snow. The Turkish army was composed of about
150,000 men under the command of Hassan Izzet Pasha, but Enver, with
a large German staff, was the true commander. The Russian army, under
General Woronzov was about 100,000 men.
Early in November the Russians crossed the frontier and reached
Koprikeui, which they occupied on the 20th of November. The Turkish
Eleventh corps was entrusted with the duty of holding the Russian
forces; the remainder of the army was to advance over the passes and
take their stations behind the Russian right. On December 25th the
Turkish attack began. The Eleventh corps forced back the Russians from
Koprikeui to Khorasan, while the extreme Turkish left was endeavoring
to outflank them. But the weather was desperate. A blizzard was
sweeping down the steeps. The Turkish forces were indeed able to carry
out the plan, for they obtained the position desired. But by this
time they were worn out, and half starved, and their attack on New
Year’s Day resulted in their defeat and retreat. The Ninth corps was
utterly wiped out, and the remainder of the Turkish forces driven off
in confusion. Only the strenuous efforts of the Turkish Eleventh corps
prevented a debacle. After a three days’ battle it, too, was broken,
and with heavy losses it retreated toward Erzerum. The snowdrifts and
blizzards must have accounted for not less than 50,000 of the Turkish
troops. The result of the battle made Russia safe in the Caucasus.
But the Germans had another use for the Turkish forces. England was
in control of Egypt and the Suez Canal. The German view of England’s
position has been well stated by Dr. Paul Rohrbach:
“As soon as England acquired Egypt it was incumbent upon her to
guard against any menace from Asia. Such a danger apparently arose
when Turkey, weakened by her last war with Russia and by difficult
conditions at home, began to turn to Germany for support. And now war
has come, and England is reaping the crops which she has sown. England,
not we, desired this war. She knows this, despite all her hypocritical
talk, and she fears that, as soon as connection is established along
the Berlin-Vienna-Budapest-Sofia-Constantinople Line, the fate of
Egypt may be decided. Through the Suez Canal goes the route to all the
lands surrounding the Indian Ocean, and by way of Singapore to the
western shores of the Pacific. These two worlds together have about
nine hundred million inhabitants, more than half the population of the
universe, and India lies in a controlling position in their midst.
Should England lose the Suez Canal she will be obliged, unlike the
powers in control of that waterway, to use the long route around the
Cape of Good Hope, and depend on the good will of the South African
Boers. The majority among the latter have not the same views as Botha.
However, it is too early to prophesy, and it is not according to German
ideas to imitate our opponents by singing premature paeons of victory.
But anyhow we are well aware why anxious England already sees us on
the road to India.”
Following out this view a Turkish force was directed toward the Suez
Canal, while the German intriguers did their best to stir up revolt
in Egypt itself. The story of Egypt is one of the most interesting
parts of the world’s history. In the early days of the world it led
mankind. Its peculiar geographical position at first gave it strength,
and afterward made it the prize for which all nations were ready to
contend. In 1517 the Sultan Selim conquered Egypt and made it part of
the Turkish realm, and in spite of many changes the sovereignty of
Constantinople had continued. In recent years the misgovernment of the
Khedive Ismael had brought into its control France and Britain; then
came the deposition of Ismael, the revolt under Arabi, the bombardment
of Alexandria and the battle of Tel-el-Kebir. Since then Egypt has been
occupied by Great Britain, who restored order, defeated the armies
of the Mahdi, and turned Egyptian bankruptcy into prosperity. Lord
Kitchener was the English hero of the wars with the Mahdi, and the
Lord Cromer the administrator who gave the Egyptian peasant a comfort
unknown since the days of the Pharaohs. With prosperity came political
agitation, and Germany, as has been seen, looked upon Egypt as fertile
territory for German propaganda.
Intrigue having failed in Egypt, a Turkish force was directed against
the Suez Canal. If that could be captured Great Britain could be cut
off from India. An expeditionary army of about 65,000 men was gathered
under the command of Djemal Pasha, the former Turkish Minister of
Marine. He had been bitterly indignant at the seizure of the two
Turkish dreadnoughts building in England, and was burning for revenge.
But he found great difficulties before him. To reach the Canal it was
necessary to cross a trackless desert, varying from 120 to 150 miles
in width. Over this desert there were three routes. The first touched
the Mediterranean coast at El-Arish and then went across the desert
to El-Kantara on the Canal, twenty-five miles south of Port Said. On
this route there were only a few wells, quite insufficient for an army.
A second route ran from Akaba, on the Red Sea, across the Peninsula
of Sinai to a point a little north of Suez. This was also badly
supplied with wells. Between the two was the central route. Leaving the
Mediterranean at El-Arish it ran up the valley called the Wady El-Arish
to where that valley touched the second road. There was no railway,
nor were these roads suitable for motor transports; for an army to
move it would be necessary either to build a railway or to improve
the roads. The best route for railway was the Wady El-Arish. The Suez
Canal, moreover, can be easily defended. It is over two hundred feet
wide, with banks rising to a height of forty feet. A railway runs along
the whole Canal, and most of the ground to the east is flat, offering
a good field of fire either to troops on the banks or to ships on the
Canal.
A considerable force of British troops, under the command of
Major-General Sir John Maxwell, were assigned for the protection of
the Canal. About the end of October it was reported that 2,000 Bedouins
were marching on the Canal, and on November 21st a skirmish took place
between this force and some of the English troops in which the Bedouins
were repelled. Nothing more was heard for more than two months, but
on January 28, 1915, a small advance party from the Turkish army was
beaten back east of El-Kantara. British airmen watched the desert well,
and kept the British army well informed of the Turkish movements. The
Turks had found it impossible to convey their full force across the
desert, and the forces which finally arrived seemed to have numbered
only about twelve thousand men. The main attack was not developed until
February 2d.
According to an account in the London _Times_, on that date, the enemy
began to move toward the Ismailia Ferry. They met a reconnoitering
party of Indian troops of all arms, and a desultory engagement ensued
to which a violent sandstorm put a sudden end about three o’clock
in the afternoon. The main attacking force pushed forward toward its
destination after nightfall. From twenty-five to thirty galvanized
iron pontoon boats, seven and a half meters in length, which had
been dragged in carts across the desert, were hauled by hand toward
the water. With one or two rafts made of kerosene tins in a wooden
frame, all was ready for the attack. The first warning of the enemy’s
approach was given by a sentry of a mountain battery who heard, to
him, an unknown tongue across the water. The noise soon increased.
It would seem that Mudjah Ideem--“Holy Warriors”--said to be mostly
old Tripoli fighters, accompanied the pontoon section, and regulars
of the Seventy-fifth regiment, for loud exultations, often in Arabic,
of “Brothers, die for the faith; we can die but once,” betrayed the
enthusiastic irregular.
The Egyptians waited until the Turks were pushing their boats into the
water, then the Maxims attached to the battery suddenly spoke, and the
guns opened at point-blank range at the men and boats crowded under
the steep bank opposite them. Immediately a violent fire broke out on
both sides of the Canal.
A little torpedo boat with a crew of thirteen, patrolling the Canal,
dashed up and landed a party of four officers and men to the south
of Tussum, who climbed up the eastern bank and found themselves in a
Turkish trench, and escaped by a miracle with the news. Promptly the
midget dashed in between the fires and enfiladed the eastern bank amid
a hail of bullets, and destroyed several pontoon boats lying unlaunched
on the bank. It continued to harass the enemy, though two officers and
two men were wounded.
As the dark, cloudy night lightened toward dawn fresh forces went
into action. The Turks, who occupied the outer, or day, line of the
Tussum post, advanced, covered by artillery, against the Indian troops,
holding the inner or night position, while an Arab regiment advanced
against the Indian troop at the Serapeum post. The warships on the
Canal and lake joined in the fray. The enemy brought some six batteries
of field guns into action from the slopes west of Kataiba-el-kaeli.
Shells admirably fused made fine practice at all the visible targets,
but failed to find the battery above mentioned, which, with some help
from a detachment of infantry, beat down the fire of the riflemen on
the opposite bank and inflicted heavy losses on the hostile supports
advancing toward the Canal.
Supported by land and naval artillery the Indian troops took the
offensive, the Serapeum garrison, which had stopped the enemy
three-quarters of a mile from the position, cleared its front, and the
Tussum garrison, by a brilliant counter-attack, drove the enemy back.
Two battalions of Anatolians of the Twenty-eighth regiment were thrown
into the fight, but the artillery gave them no chance, and by 3.30 in
the afternoon a third of the enemy, with the exception of a force that
lay hid in bushy hollows on the east bank between the two posts, were
in full retreat, leaving many dead, a large proportion of whom had been
killed by shrapnel. Meanwhile the warships on the lake had been in
action, a salvo from a battleship woke up Ismailia early, and crowds
of soldiers and some civilians climbed every available sand hill to see
what was doing, till the Turkish guns sent shells sufficiently near to
convince them that it was safer to watch from cover.
At about eleven in the morning two six-inch shells hit the Hardinge
near the southern entrance of the lake. They first damaged the funnel,
and the second burst inboard. Pilot Carew, a gallant old merchant
seaman, refused to go below when the firing opened and lost a leg. Nine
others were wounded, one or two merchantmen were hit but no lives were
lost. A British gunboat was struck. Then came a dramatic duel between
the Turkish big gun, or guns, and a warship. The Turks fired just over,
and then just short, at 9,000 yards. The warship sent in a salvo of
more six-inch shells than had been fired that day.
Late in the afternoon of the 3d there was sniping from the east bank
between Tussum and Serapeum, and a man was killed on the tops of a
British battleship. Next morning the sniping was renewed and the Indian
troops, moving out to search the ground, found several hundred of
the enemy in the hollow previously mentioned. During the fight some
of the enemy, either by accident or design, held up their hands,
while others fired on the Punjabis, who were advancing to take the
surrender, and killed a British officer. A sharp fight with the cold
steel followed, and a British officer killed a Turkish officer with a
sword thrust in single combat. A body of a German officer with a white
flag was afterward found here, but there is no proof that the white
flag was used. Finally all the enemy were killed, captured or put to
flight. With this the fighting ended, and the subsequent operations
were confined to the rounding up of prisoners, and the capture of a
considerable amount of military material left behind. The Turks, who
departed with their guns and baggage during the night of the 3d, still
seemed to be moving eastward.
So ended the battle of the Suez Canal.
Two more incidents in the Turkish campaign remain to be noticed. Report
having come that the town of Akaba on the Red Sea was being used as a
mine-laying station, H. M. S. Minerva visited the place, and found it
occupied by soldiers under a German officer. The Minerva destroyed the
fort and the barracks and the government buildings. Another British
cruiser, with a detachment of Indian troops, captured the Turkish fort
at Sheik Said, at the southern end of the Red Sea. And so for the time
ended all Turkish movements against Great Britain. That such movements
should have been possible seems hard to believe. For a century the
British had been the friends and allies of the Turkish Government. In
the Crimean War their armies had fought side by side with the Turkish
troops against Russia. In the Russo-Turkish War Lord Beaconsfield, in
the negotiations which preceded the treaty of Berlin, had saved for
Turkey much of its territory. It was only the British influence and
the fear of the British power which had prevented Russia from taking
possession of Constantinople a half a century before. The English
had always been popular in Turkey and there was every reason at the
beginning of the war to believe that their popularity had not waned.
There is reason to believe that the average Turk had little sympathy
with the course of his government, and if a free expression of the
popular will had been possible the Turkish army would never have been
sent against either the Englishmen or the Frenchmen. But long years of
German propaganda had done their work. The power of Enver Pasha was
greater than that of the weakling Sultan and the war was forced upon
the Turkish people by German tools and German bribes.