THE SOUDAN CAMPAIGN.

Lyttelton Times, Volume LXIII, Issue 7561, 28 May 1885, Page 6

THE SOUDAN CAMPAIGN.

THE NEW SOUTH WALES CONTINGENT .IN ACTION.

From our files of English papers we obtain the following particulars with regard, to some of the closing-incidents of the' Soudan war:— ' THE BURNING OF TAMAI.

The .following account of the operations of April 2 and 3, including the advance upon Tamai, is given by the special correspondent of the Standard. The message is dated Souakim, Friday, April 3 : "It was a lovely moonlight morning when the. reveille sounded. The troops turned out very rapidly, but the start was delayed for some time, owing to the difficulty of getting into marching order the great convoy, which consisted of 1000 camels and more than 1500 mules, laden for the most part with water. It was consequently nearly 4 o'clock before the column got into motion, formed in a great square round the transport. The force consisted of the Scots Fusilier Guards, the Coldstreams, the Australians, Marines, the 53rd JBfl

Shropshire), the 70th (ESSt~ Surrey) 15tlr Sikhs and the 2Sfch -Bombay Infantry. The eight was very picturesque in the 1 moonlight, aided now by the first dawn of day,'as the groat square, its centre crowded with animals, was seen umking its way slowly through the dense bush. The work became more easy as the day broadened out, but it, was not until 9 o'clock that we reached the zareba., Here there was a bait for an hour for breakfast; then the troops prepared: 'for a fresh start. The 28th Bombay Infantry took charge of the zarebas, relieving the Grenadier Guards, Naval Brigade, and tb.9 49th (the Berkshire), who fell in with the square as it started on its march for Tamai. ' The weather was magnificent, and a pleasant breeze relieved the effect of the fierceness of the sun overhead. The cavalry scouts extended across our front and far away to the right and lefty but no signs of enemy, were to be seen, save a body of about a, hundred camels moving along the hill-side on our right. We reached the foot of, the Teselah hills, a group of detached, crags overlooking the Tamai Valley, an. hour before sunset. There we halted, and the Mounted Infantry pushed on to Tamai, which they found to be deserted by the enemy. A few shots were fired at them by small parties of the enemy, scattered on the hillside at a distance, but at too great a range to take effect. In the. meantime, the infantry were preparing to rest for the night. The ground upon which they we're to bivouac was a hollow between the Teselah hills, and was almost the same as that which General Graham's force occupied last year, before it advanced to the assault of Osman Digna's force. The hills were taken possession of by .a half battalion of the Grenadiers, with some guns, and the rest of the force began at 'once to cut down bushes to form a zareba. The evening passed off quietly, and the troops, who had been on their feet nearly 20 hours, were sleeping soundly, when towards 'mid? night they were aroused by a dropping fire being opened upon them by small parties of the enemy. ■< Distant as the fire was, it was 1 by no means ineffective. The bullets pattered into the great enclosure, killing, one man and wounding two others, and killing several of the transport animals. The Grenadiers on the heights above at once began firing volleys at the enemy, and.the artillery burst two or three well-aimed Shrapnel shells over their heads, whereupon they at once decamped, and we were not again disturbed. At sunrise the bugle sounded, and the force prepared to move forward. In a short time they were joined i by the cavalry, which had returned to sleep in the first zareba. The 70th, 53rd, and Naval Brigade remained to guard the post, and the great proportion of the transport animals and the column then moved out towards Tamai.

" The formation now adopted for the advance was that suggested by General Hodson, who commanded the Australians, and who had used it in the Sutlej canv paign, where it proved admirably adapted for. hill fighting. The chief feature consisted of deploying from the rear. The 49th in line were the front force of the formation, with the Marines on their right flank, the 15th Sikhs on their left. In the intervals on either flanks were two companies of the Guards. The Brigade of Guards came next in open column of companies, the Grenadiers on the right, the Scot Guards in the centre, and the Australians on the left; The Coldstream Guards were in the rear, marching in auarter column of companies. They were flanked ; by ;V. the Madras Sappers and Miners. Six guns of the Royal Horse Artillery were out on the right flank, the mule and rocket batteries on the left. Tamai consists of a group; of five villages, with the wells in the centre. The two villages on the right of the line by which we were advancing are waterless, and these had been abandoned by the enemy. In those on the left, however, parties of Arabs could be seen moving, and against them the column advaucedy deploying for attack. The, Horse. Artillery mountedisome high ground to the right,' and prepared to open fire, while the mule batteryand the rocket battery were held in reserve at the footof the -slope. The ground over which the men: advanced was,

as rough and broken as can well belmajg-"-" ined. It was free from bush, but was in-, tersected with deep gullies, and staddedwith jutting rocks and huge boulders. Over , this broken ground the troops made their . way quietly and.steadily, managing to preserve their formation and keep their places in the line with admirable precision, con-* . aider in' the extraordinary difficulties of the ground. Every man was on the qui vive, for at any moment the enemy might leap out from the deep gullies and hurl themselves upon us, as they did lasU year. But save that from the ridges on the opposite side of the valley some 200 Arabs armed with rifles kept up a discharge at a range of about 1000 yards, no signs of the enemy were visible. The troops on that flank returned their fire briskly, but the foe lurking among the rocks afforded but a doubtful mark, while" our ,dense bodies of troops were an easy target for them,'and several casualties occurred in our .ranks. It was just 10 o'clock when we reached Tamai. The villages were deserted by the enemy on our approach, without a shot being fired in their defence. The first and most important point was to ascertain the state of the wells. "The result of the examination was most " disappointing. Not only were they found to be newly filled up, which, indeed, had been expected, but on their being sounded, it was found that the water was practically exhausted. It is probable that this failure of the water supply has had much to de with the disappearance of Osman Digna's forcepi. Last year we found, after our vicfair supply of water in the wells, but the battle was fought three weeks earlier than our present advance, and the wells may well have been dry at this date.. Large as was o%r convoy, .it had brought out but three days' water supply for the • whole force', and the failure of the wells at Tamai determined General Graham to abandon his intention of advancing against Tamanieb, for, were the wells there 'found also to be waterless, . the position of the force would be serious, and very great suffering would . have to be endured on our march back tethe coast. The order of the return march was the reverse of that'in which we had advanced. The artillery halted occasionally and shelled the Arabs on the hills. The cavalry, before they followed us, set. fire te the village of Tamai. The Mounted In- > fantry, moving upon the left of the column, . - came upon a small party of some 50 men, who were actually attempting to turn the flank of an army 8000 strong. A few shots dispersed them, but aB they moved off firing,. one of the" Mounted Infantry, a man of the _. Berkshire Eegiment, was killed. The other casualties during the day amounted to twelve wounded: —Lieutenant. Lalor of the Marines; two men of the Scot* Fusiliers, three Australians,, one Grenadier, one Coldstream, one Marine, and. two Mounted Infantry. As we fell back it was' curious to see the handful of Arabs making their way parallel witih our march, on the distant Mils«to our. right, running from rock to rock like rabbits, . and keeping up a constant fire upom the column of 8000 picked troops of Tihe British Army. Thus, owing to this un■{ortunate failure of water at the critical. moment, the whole course of the campaign has been arrested. It may be that Osmam Digna would have fallen, back from Tamanieb at our approach as he did front Tamai j still, it would have been a satisfaction to every man in the force could we have occupied that village also. It would, however; in any case, have been impossible te follow him among the hills. It is a sever* disappointment to the troops that after their ~ immense exertions, after the efforts, of the transport in preparing for the advance, the marches in the blazing sun to and from tht heavy loss of lifeinthe previous engagements/to say nothing of the enormous »- cost of the expedition, the enemy should refuse to await our attack, and that the want of water should prevent our following - - him up. The temporary occupation of a wretched village is a poor result to show after such labour, effort and suffering. The two days' work, indeed, thoroughly justi- . fies General Graham's remarks to the Australian contingent, in which he placed the desert as the first and greatest enemy to be encountered, the fierce inhabitant . being but a secondary difficulty. Th# . whole force is now on its way into Souakim. ' The infantry halt at the zarebas and sleep there, marching in to-morrow . morning, and abandoning that post alto- . gether. After a few days' rest at Souakim, there will be a fresh advance-in the direction of Handub, the railway being pushed - on and the line fortified. Henceforth we ' shall leave it to the enemy to take the initiative in the attack. We have offered him battle on his own ground, and he has declined. If he wants to fight, he must now come to us." Two women who have arrived at Souakim from Tamai state that Osman has retreated among the hills to the west of Tamanieb. He had only 1000 men with him during last week, and great discontent existed among his followers. Large numbers of women and children were among the rebels, many of whom were mourning'dead husbands or fathers. Food was scarce. Sjnce the re-appearance of the British troops at Tamai, and - the burning of. the natives* .• huts, open disaffection had broken out in ■ Osman's camp. His people accuse him, the Daily Telegraph correspondent says, of de- , ceiving and misleading them, and denounce - Osman as a fool, for the English bullets have not been, as he told them they would ■ be, like drops of water falling upon - their bodies, and the English soldiers have not cowered and. run away, but, on the contrary, evidently mean to remain in she country. Our spies confirm these reports. In connection with the engagements of March 20 and 22, several instances of herein conduct have been brought to the notice ef ■ i the Commanding General. One or two of General Hodson's Indian Horse, by great daring, saved Captain Thompson's lii'e, as swell as that of a cavalry brigade-majpr. Another trooper of the same horse refcffu'sd with great gallantry Captain Garstin.. In all 19 men have been mentioned to the General as deserving of the Indian Order of Merit. There is a strong opinion among .the Indian officers that the time has arrived for the of invidious distinctions in the decorations bestowed upon British and Indian troops. All acts of gallantry, they think, . should be alike rewarded by the bestowal of the Victoria Cross, which should be open to all soldiers of the Queen. They deent it very unjust that the Native troops should - be excluded from this order. Subadar Goordit Singh, of the Sikhs, when the square was broken on March 22, rushed te the front and cut down two of the enemy, and broke the sword of a third man, thus setting a fine example to the troops. The cavalry reconnoitred as far as Handub yesterday. A Native officer of Hodson's Horse commanded the advance scouts, and the manner in which he worked the eounr try was admirable. Nothing escaped his observation. All speak in the highest terms of' the manner in which the Bengal Cavalry perform field duties.