THE BATTLE OF TEL-EL-KEBIR.
1882.
The battle of Tel-el-Kebir stands out pre-eminently as one of the most
glorious achievements in the history of that gallant old regiment, the
79th Highlanders. The circumstances leading up to the battle were of a
somewhat peculiar nature, and, briefly, are as follows. On the 26th
June, 1879, the Khedive Ishmail, who had caused Britain much trouble,
was ordered by the Sultan of Turkey to resign, and his son Tewfik was
appointed as successor. A short period after this, Britain and France
re-established dual control of Egypt, and this continued for two years.
About the end of that period a fellah officer, calling himself Ahmed
Arabi, who had assisted Ishmail during his efforts to overthrow the
constitutional ministry, headed a band of Arab officers, who complained
of the preference shown to officers of Turkish origin. The dispute
thereafter expanded into an attack on the privileged position of
foreigners, and finally it was directed against all Christians, foreign
and native.
The Government was then too weak to suppress the disorder, and for the
time being certain concessions were made to Arabi. That individual,
from being made Under Secretary for War, was afterwards appointed to
the Cabinet. But the danger of a serious rising brought the British and
French fleets, in May, 1882, to Alexandria, and after a massacre had
been perpetrated by the Arab mob in that city on the 16th June, the
British admiral bombarded the place.
The leaders of the national movement prepared to resist further
British aggression by force. A conference of ambassadors was held at
Constantinople. The Sultan, on being invited to quell the revolt,
hesitated, and the British Government determined to commence the work.
France, invited to take part, declined, and Italy took up a similar
attitude. It was thus that the battle of Tel-el-Kebir came to be fought.
An expeditionary force, detailed from home stations and from Malta, was
organised in two divisions, with a cavalry division, corps troops, and
a siege train, numbering in all about 25,000 men. An Indian contingent,
7000 strong, complete in all arms, and with its own transport, was
prepared for despatch to Suez. General Sir Garnet Wolseley was in
command, with Lieutenant-General Sir John Adye as chief of staff.
The camp of the enemy was situated on the southern slope of a ridge
at Tel-el-Kebir, and was hidden by the folds of a plateau which lay
between this and the British camp. Their lines were drawn from a canal
on the south to the northern slopes of the ridge, the highest part of
which was occupied by three works for their heavier artillery. It was
evident that they dreaded a turning movement on one or both flanks. A
part of the lines had been executed nearly a year before the war broke
out, for Tel-el-Kebir was held by Egyptian (or rather by American)
strategists to be a position of the greatest importance. A single line
of continuous trench, to which the Egyptians trusted, was prolonged
northwards shortly before the battle, and the work was here only
partly complete. Continuous lines are condemned by European military
writers as essentially weak, because once broken at any point they are
probably lost to their entire extent. Tel-el-Kebir was to prove the
truth of this tactical axiom.
One open work for guns was erected on the south slope of the desert
ridge. The soil being light, cover was easily obtained. The trenches
were about deep enough to allow of a man firing easily over the
parapet, and an exterior ditch, some four feet deep, was dug at most
parts of the line outside the mound. The gun positions, which were
conspicuous above the surface, had embrasures very neatly riveted with
maize-sticks and mud, but in so dry and sandy a country they would
probably have been much damaged by any heavy practice from the guns
which they contained. Arabi Pasha had paid special attention to his
flanks, and on the north a line of parapet ran almost south-west at an
acute angle to the front, along the crest of the ridge, to defend the
position from the much-dreaded turning movement on his left flank. The
southern flank was protected by the canal, and the Wady, a river which
Arabi intended to flood. A battery of four Krupp guns was here placed
outside the canal.
Such was the position on which the Egyptian War Minister staked the
fate of his army for the Tel-el-Kebir fight, having with him there
some 26,000 men of his entire available army. About half of these,
including some 6000 negroes, the best troops to be found in Egypt,
were trained soldiers, the rest being recruits of one or two months’
standing, sent down in trains from the depot near Cairo, and drilled at
first with clubs, until they were able to handle a rifle. In addition
to his regular troops and recruits; Arabi had enlisted the services of
some 6000 Bedouin irregulars, both foot and mounted men. These were
expected to make periodic raids on the British lines of communication.
These raids, however, were not carried out, for though the Bedouin
shiekhs would ride furiously up and down in front of our outposts, as
if to show their valour, a single shot was found sufficient to disperse
them, and they refused to come nearer. Moreover, when one of them was
wounded, the whole tribe followed him home in disgust. Thus the Bedouin
attacks were of little avail.
The British troops reached Kassassin, which is situated in the
neighbourhood of Tel-el-Kebir, a few days before the battle was fought.
The Bedouins, although they had not taken part in any fighting, hovered
by night over the battlefield of Kassassin, where, a few days before, a
vigorous attack by Arabi had failed. The Bedouins murdered or mutilated
all the wounded who could not be shown to be Moslems.
While the Egyptian position covered the junction of the railways from
Cairo and Belbeis, and was sufficiently strong, it had nevertheless its
weak points, one of which was the intersected character of the country
through which a retreat might have to be made. But the difficulty,
which also of course affected the pursuit, would have arisen in almost
any position taken up to oppose an advance from Ismaileh.
The line of operations chosen by the British General was incomparably
the better of the two. The flat, open desert, without any natural
features such as would interfere with evolutions on a large scale was
far better suited for the advance than the narrow banks which lead from
village to village at High Nile in the Delta itself. Thus the advantage
of taking the strong works of Kefr-dowar in reverse, the shortening of
the distance from Cairo, and the proximity of the important railway
junction at Zaga-Zig were also considerations favouring the line
adopted. The desert was generally hard enough for all arms, although
some miles of drift sand had to be crossed.
To Arabi’s forces may be added about sixty guns.
Against the forces mentioned above, the British mustered only 11,000
infantry, with 2000 horse and 60 guns--a strength which, according to
ordinary calculations, was quite unqualified for the task. The British
army was extended into two lines, about a thousand yards apart, over a
distance of three miles. The front line was composed of two brigades,
whose duty it was to attack the highest part of the ridge--Graham’s
Brigade on the right and Alison’s Highlanders on the left. Graham was
supported by the guards, and between this and the supports of the
Highland Brigade were 42 guns of the artillery division. A gap of more
than 2000 yards was thus left between the Highlanders and the railway,
along which the naval brigade and the iron-clad train advanced. The
Indian troops, who supported the Seaforth Highlanders, south of the
canal, formed the extreme left of the British line. The cavalry
division, held in reserve for pursuit, was on the extreme right in
the second line. The reserve ammunition train, with the telegraph and
pontoons, bringing up the rear.
The enemy were to be taken entirely by surprise, for Arabi had not been
expecting the attack for a day or two yet, or from such a position, the
British troops being stationed at Ismaileh. Notwithstanding this, when
the great camp was struck at Kassassin at sunset, the news soon reached
the enemy’s ears, in spite of the secrecy maintained, and it is said
that until midnight the Egyptians remained under arms, after which, in
accordance with Oriental custom, they fell asleep, and, according to
their own account, so remained until awakened by the shots of their
outposts.
Sergeant Palmer, of the 79th Highlanders, in one of the most vivid
published narratives of the battle, mentions that while the British
army lay camped at Kassassin the brigade orders issued on the morning
of the 10th September, fore-shadowed the night march on Tel-el-Kebir,
which began the same evening. One of the instructions in those orders
was that each man’s water-bottle should be filled with cold tea--for
the purpose, it is supposed, of keeping the soldiers awake. The
regimental orders issued in the afternoon confirmed the brigade orders,
and announced that the position of Tel-el-Kebir was to be attacked with
the bayonet; no one was to load; and not a shot to be fired until the
men were over the enemy’s entrenchments. The 79th, upon whom the bulk
of the fighting fell, cheered vigorously when the orders were read to
them. They had the fullest confidence in their leader, Sir Archibald
Alison, who, although severe, is described as a just and reasonable
man, well versed in war. There were thirteen victories inscribed upon
the Highlanders’ colours, but scarce a man in the rank and file had
seen a battle, for it had been last in action during the Indian Mutiny.
The regiment paraded at 5.45 p.m. When the words “Stand at ease!” had
been given, the captains of the respective companies explained to their
men what they were to do to ensure victory at Tel-el-Kebir.
The remarks of Sergeant Palmer at this juncture are particularly
impressive:--
“Our captain,” he explains, “was no great orator, but he had a
straightforward, manly manner of speech, which somehow stirred the
blood. As far as I can remember, this was what was said:--‘Men, you
are marching to-night to attack a strongly-entrenched position called
Tel-el-Kebir, mounting some 60 guns, and sweeping our line of approach.
On the march from Nine Gun Hill there must be no smoking. The strictest
silence must be kept, and, unless ordered to the contrary, you are
to continue the march steadily, no matter if bullets and shells come
hailstone-fashion into the ranks. No bayonets are to be fixed till the
order is given, and no man is to charge until the last note of the
bugle is finished. The bayonet alone is to do the work, and not a shot
is to be fired until the trenches are carried. You are to fight on so
long as a man stands up. Remember the country and regiment to which you
belong, and fight now as fought the Highlanders of old!’”
It is further recorded that as the troops were marching to Nine Gun
Hill chums were giving each other messages for home in case of being
killed, for all knew there was hard fighting before them.
Reaching Nine Gun Hill, where lay their camp, the brigade in dense
darkness deployed into line of half battalions of double companies at
deploying intervals. During the halt at this hill, two lots of rum per
man were served out--the first allowance of strong drink since quitting
board ship. The regimental teetotaller called it “Dutch courage,” but
nobody needed an incentive to fight. The rum proved very comforting to
the men in the chill night air, and when they had bolted it--for it had
to be swallowed on the spot--most of them went to sleep; this to many
their last sleep prior to the final long sleep of all. About 1.30 a.m.
the march was resumed, the 79th being appointed the directing regiment,
while Lieutenant Rawson, R.N., had the duty of guiding it by the stars.
Occasionally clouds would obscure the sky as the men plodded on, but
the North Star and part of the Little Bear remained visible. Sergeant
Palmer and another non-commissioned officer were told off to march on
the directing flank, close to Lieutenant Rawson. They were ordered to
take off their helmets and keep their eyes fixed on a certain star,
and if it should disappear they were instructed to inform Rawson in a
whisper. Within the space of one hour several stars disappeared, and
as they did so the Lieutenant indicated others for the men to watch.
At this point the strictest discipline was maintained, and silence was
vigorously enforced, save that occasionally a horse would neigh and
another answer back in the cavalry ranks; not a sound was to be heard
but the low trampling of many feet on the sand, described as resembling
the fluttering of a flock of birds.
Once a man on whom either the rum had taken effect, or the weird
silence had had an ungovernable influence, broke out into wild yells.
Sir Garnet Wolseley immediately rode up, and ordered the offender to be
bayoneted, but the regimental surgeon interposed, and begged leave to
chloroform him instead. This was granted, and the man was drugged into
insensibility and left lying on the sand.
After the troops had marched at a funeral pace for about two hours, a
halt of twenty minutes was commanded. As the orders were slowly passed
from company to company in a low tone of voice, they failed to reach
the flanks of the brigade, which continued in motion, retaining the
touch until the extremities all but met in front of the centre. Thus
the brigade in effect formed a great hollow circle. The line had to be
laboriously straightened out and re-formed in the inky darkness, and
in all but silence. It was a fine proof of discipline that this was
accomplished in the short space of twenty-five minutes, and about 4.30
a.m. the advance was resumed. Those present have described how the
monotonous slow-step marching induced in them an almost overpowering
sleepiness, somewhat incompatible, but not unusual, with a prospect of
shortly facing the enemy.
The Colonel of the 79th, Sir Archibald Alison, at this period was
becoming anxious, and was beginning to fear that something was wrong,
as the minutes slipped by and nothing was discovered of the enemy’s
position. Turning to Lieutenant Rawson, he exclaimed in a low tone,
“Are we on the right track?”
“Yes, sir,” was the reply; “we have the north star on our right, and
another in front, and soon we ought to be there.”
Suddenly out of the darkness ahead appeared shadowy forms, an
appearance followed up instantly by the crack of a rifle and the
roar of artillery. Never for a moment did the serried British ranks
betray the confidence which had been placed in them, and though to
spring forward was the impulse of every man, yet none stirred. Slowly
and irresistibly the force moved forward. Here and there a man fell
backward with a bullet through his head. The others made no sign.
All at once the order rang out sharp, “Fix bayonets!” and with alacrity
the troops obeyed, the Highland regiments in the van. The order for the
charge was now eagerly awaited, but the moment was not yet ripe.
For fully one hundred yards the silent force crept on, with arms at the
slope, and the sound of the enemy’s bullets upon the British bayonets
has been likened to the sound of hailstones on a tin roof. Suddenly the
welcome command, “Prepare to charge!” rang out on the early morning
air, for dawn was breaking, and a sigh of relief went up from the eager
troops. An instant later and the “Charge!” was sounded. As the last
note of the bugle died away, a mighty cheer went up, the pipes broke
out into the slogan, and like a wave of the sea, with their gallant
Colonel at the head, shouting, “Come on, the Camerons!” the devoted
Highlanders swept forward over the enemy’s position.
A space of two hundred yards intervened before the first trench was
reached, but at full speed, and shoulder to shoulder, not an instant
was lost in traversing it. All the while the enemy fired vigorously,
but fortunately aimed too high, and little damage was done. Now the
charge was checked by the first trench, twelve feet in depth and twelve
feet wide, which yawned in front of our men. Many fell headlong into
it, but, scrambling and cheering, strenuously pushing, they gained the
far side, and at length fell upon the enemy, steel to steel.
It is reported that the first man to gain the other side was a brave
young soldier, Donald Cameron by name. He joined desperately hand to
hand against a throng of Egyptians, till he received a bullet through
the head and fell back bleeding into the trench, never to stir again.
Others were by this time pushing forward, though the steepness of the
trench proved an almost insurmountable obstacle. In spite, however, of
constant slipping back, and the difficulty of obtaining foothold, soon
large numbers of the Highlanders gained the summit of the trench, and,
cleaving their way with the bayonet, they swept headlong on towards
the second trench, with stentorian cheers. Here similar scenes were
enacted, and many hand-to-hand conflicts took place ere the force
halted for a moment and then resumed the victorious onslaught.
It is reported that between two trenches an extraordinary incident, and
one which for a moment threatened to bring ruin to the British arms,
occurred. Even as the Highlanders swept on towards the second trench
there were loud shouts of “Retire! retire!” and for an instant the
ranks wavered. But not for long. Fortunately a staff officer in the
nick of time galloped forward, and shouting, “No retire, men! Come on!
come on!” led the hesitating ranks once more against the enemy.
Sergeant Palmer, to whose narrative we have before referred, gives the
explanation of this singular occurrence, though the story is questioned
by other writers. It seems that the cries of “Retire!” had been
treacherously raised by a couple of Glasgow Irishmen, who had somehow
evaded the precautions that were in force since the days of Fenianism
to prevent the enlistment of disloyal characters. On two occasions
they had been proved cowards, or something worse, and non-commissioned
officers had been told off to watch their conduct in the field, it
being left to the discretion of these to inflict summary justice if
necessary. When the traitors were seen and heard to raise their coward
voices, short shrift awaited them, and the bayonets of their fellows
inflicted a speedy retribution.
In the rapidly-growing daylight it was now perceived that a short halt
would be necessary to reform the somewhat scattered ranks, and this
hastily effected, the brigade swept down before Tel-el-Kebir Lock,
driving all opposition before them. Over the crest of the hill lay the
white tents of the Egyptian camp, on the far side of the canal, and as
the Highland ranks rushed on, the fugitive Egyptians threw themselves
into the water in hundreds, and as many as gained the opposite bank
were seen running like deer across the desert.
By now the 2nd Brigade arrived upon the scene, together with the
Scottish division of the Royal Artillery at a gallop, and these quickly
unlimbered and opened fire upon the rapidly-dispersing forces of Arabi.
Then again dashing on, they took up a nearer position, and continued
their deadly work. As they had passed the Highland Brigade a tremendous
cheer went up from battery after battery, and loud shouts of “Scotland
for Ever!” rent the startled desert air.
The battle of Tel-el-Kebir was won. All that now remained was to push
the victory, and this Sir Garnet was not long in doing. The 42nd were
sent forward to clear the village, while the cavalry poured down
across the desert in their hundreds. As these latter arrived, bitter
disappointment was visible upon their faces, and they exclaimed as they
shot past the now halted Highlanders in a whirl of dust, “You ----
Jocks haven’t left us the chance of a fight!” Such has ever been the
spirit of the British soldier, and a brave show the cavalry made, as,
with “flashing lances and waving swords,” they swept on upon their work
of annihilation.
The battle was won, but the casualty list was a heavy one, numbering
339 of all ranks. Of these no fewer than 243 occurred in the Highland
Brigade, showing the lion’s share which that brigade had taken in the
conflict.
Among the wounded lay the intrepid Lieutenant Rawson, through whose
skilful leading the British plan of attack had met with so great
success.
Says Sergeant Palmer:--“The sights of the battlefield were gruesome,
now one looked at them in cold blood. The artillery had wrought
fearful havoc. I remember one heap of twenty-four corpses, some blown
absolutely into fragments, others headless and without limbs. In the
outer trench our dead and wounded lay more thickly than those of the
enemy, but in the inner trenches and in the spaces between, for one man
of ours there were ten Egyptians.”
Meanwhile, the British commander had prepared, with admirable foresight
and patience, for the pushing home of his victory. The rapidity of
the subsequent pursuit was even greater indication of sound military
insight than the admirably-planned attack of the early morning. Cavalry
and artillery vied with each other in cutting up and harassing the
hard-pressed foe, now in full retreat at all points. For everywhere our
arms had been successful.
The Indian contingent, moving out of camp at 2.30 a.m., having a
shorter distance to cover than the main brigades, stormed the battery
which defended the canal by attacking the gap which lay south of the
Highlanders, and plied the defenders with canister at a range of 30
yards. There are few recorded instances in military history in which
artillery have been so handled, fighting alone against infantry in
an entrenchment, but the departure would appear to have been fully
justified by events.
For already so shaken by the northern attack were the entrenched
Egyptians, that they were quickly dispersed by the bold tactics of
Colonel Schreiber’s batteries, and a general rout ensued. By 4 p.m. on
the same day, General Macpherson, with two squadrons of Indian horse,
had reached Zag-a-zig, 26 miles distant, had captured the station,
with five trains, and was in telegraphic communication with Cairo.
Fortunately the orders issued by Arabi for the flooding of the district
had not been carried out, or the position at Zag-a-zig would have been
untenable.
The whole position was now in the hands of the British, and at length
Arabi confessed himself beaten, surrendering “to that great nation,
in whose clemency he placed his trust.” Hereafter his army was
entirely broken up, straggling along the canal to Zag-a-zig, where its
disarmament took place. The enemy’s rifles were either broken or thrown
into the water.
The Egyptian dead numbered two thousand.
Not content, however, with the signal victory at Tel-el-Kebir, Sir
Garnet Wolseley had more work to do, and a prompt dash on Cairo was no
sooner conceived than carried into effect. Though it was well known
that the city of Cairo was garrisoned by some 10,000 fresh troops and
though the strength of its defences was admittedly formidable, Sir
Garnet never hesitated for an instant.
By four o’clock in the afternoon of the 14th September, the day after
the battle, the Indian cavalry brigade, with the 4th Dragoons and
Mounted Infantry rode into the outskirts of Cairo, where the barracks
were at once surrendered to them, some 50 troopers, a mere handful,
accepting the submission of the garrison. Later the same evening
another small detachment of 150 men demanded the submission of the
citadel. So great was the prestige of our troops, that the 5000 armed
soldiers who formed the garrison marched out submissively, and our
Indian cavalry at once took possession, “riding like black demons into
the formidable fortress.”
On the 15th, Sir Garnet Wolseley, attended by the Foot Guards, and
fresh from his victory at Tel-el-Kebir, arrived in Cairo by train, and
the campaign was brought to a glorious and successful termination,
barely three weeks from the time of landing the expeditionary force.
Arabi himself was banished to Ceylon.
No praise can be too high for the secrecy and energy with which the
enterprise was carried out, and all ranks came in for the hearty
congratulations of the commander-in-chief. The Highland Brigade, upon
whom fell the brunt of the work, justly recall Tel-el-Kebir as one of
the most glorious of their many glorious victories.